Knowing she could trust Rosemary, Jessie had assured Lucas she was okay with telling her everything, but she would prefer to do it at Rosemary's home and not her office. Rosemary had agreed and explained to Lee he would need to watch Goldie, away from the house, while they spoke. Always wanting to spend time with his little girl, he quickly left to pick her up. Seeing they were getting ready to leave, Elizabeth asked if she could accompany them, as she was going home to relieve Allie of babysitting duties. Jessie was happy to have her company.
Elizabeth had pulled Nathan and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest. Nathan put his arms around her and pulled her in tight. It was amazing to him how this simple action allowed him to feel calm and relaxed, as if everything in the world was right. Elizabeth loved the safety she felt him pull her closer, and how her head fit just perfectly against his chest. She would then feel his chin rest on her head, followed by a gentle exhale that would tease her hair. Wishing she could stay with him, she sighed and leaned back a little bit to look into his eyes, "As much as I want to stay right here with you, I know you have work to do, so I'll walk home with Rosemary and Jessie. Please promise you will let me know when you come home, no matter when it is?"
"I promise." she heard just as his lips met hers in a gentle kiss, one that sent a spark down to her toes. Feeling him begin to pull back, she reached her hand behind his head and held the kiss a little longer.
"Be safe." Elizabeth whispered as she pulled away.
"Always." Nathan whispered back before bringing her hand to his lips for a quick kiss, then turning to walk away.
There was more silence than conversation as the three ladies out of town. Each deep in thought and trying to process all that had happened that day. As they neared the row houses, Jessie reached a hand out to Elizabeth. "Elizabeth, I know you are anxious to get home to your son, but I would really like it if you would stay with Rosemary and me."
Elizabeth tried to hide the shock she felt, but Jessie saw it right away and gave a small smile. "All of this about the past, and seeing you here, brought back memories of when we were in school. You were the only one that made an effort to talk to me each day, no matter what. It was the reason I kept going to school, actually. At home…" she paused, and decided not to get into that right now, "well, every day you made me feel like someone actually saw me, even if it was only for our brief conversations. It was the highlight of my whole day, really."
They had arrived at Rosemary's house and were standing in front of the steps.
"Jessie, I…" Elizabeth stumbled over her words, unsure what to say after hearing that heartfelt confession.
"You don't need to say anything, Elizabeth, really, and I understand if you aren't able to be there, but it would mean a lot if you were."
"Of course I will." Elizabeth told her, "Let me just…" she stopped as Allie and Jack came out of her house, followed by Goldie and Lee.
Seeing the ladies, Lee smiled, "We are going to the park to work up an appetite, then to the café for dinner, and then ice cream for dinner."
"Lee, don't you dare let those kids only eat sweets." Rosemary warned, knowing her husband's propensity to go a little overboard. She looked at "Allie, you will keep an eye on him," she pointed at Lee, "for me, right?"
"Of course I will, Mrs. Coulter." Allie promised, with a sparkle in her eye. She reached down to take Jack's hand and the four of them started towards town.
"Lee!" Rosemary warned as he passed by.
"Yes, dear." he answered, winking at Elizabeth and Jessie.
"Oh, that man!" Rosemary exclaimed, exasperated as always with her husband and this subject.
Elizabeth shook her head and smiled, having been part of that conversation many times.
"Shall we?" Rosemary said, already putting it behind her, and ready to move forward. And with that, the three of them walked into the house.
Jessie looked around at the nicely furnished home, loving the homey feeling that washed over her the moment she stepped inside. "I love your home, Rosemary." she said.
"Well, thank you. We sure love it here." Rosemary told her, giving her a side hug, before going upstairs and calling behind her, "Make yourselves comfortable, Elizabeth the kettle should be ready to heat."
Elizabeth, knowing that they would need tea, had already gone to the kitchen to do just that. Jessie was looking at the pictures on the wall when she noticed a framed playbill that looked familiar. She walked towards it and gave a gasp. Rosemary had come back down the stairs and was next to her. Hearing the gasp, she reached out, "Everything okay Jessie?"
"You're the Rosemary LeVeaux?" Jessie asked, incredulously.
With a flourish, Rosemary took a bow and answered with her bright stage smile, "Indeed, I am."
"I actually attended this very show," Jessie explained, pointing at the handbill, "It was my very first stage show, and I loved it. You were fantastic. I remember thinking how talented you were."
"Why, Jessie, thank you." Rosemary said, a little overcome with emotion. While she was used to hearing compliments like this, no one in Hope Valley had ever seen her preform so to hear it from someone she liked, and knew was a special experience for her.
Just then, Elizabeth announced the tea was ready, so the ladies went to the kitchen to help bring over the cups and cookies.
Having sat down and enjoyed a few sips of tea, Elizabeth asked Jessie, "Are you sure about doing this? I get the feeling it's very personal."
Thankful for the question, Jessie nodded her head and replied, "I've been working very hard to put this awful memories behind me so that I can finally move forward with life, and it feels like by talking to you two, I can finally do it." She took a deep breath, and began.
"You know," Nathan told Gabriel, who was sitting in the chair behind the desk in the Mountie office while he sat on the other side, "If you were a few years older, this would feel just like my first days here in Hope Valley."
Placing his feet back on the floor, Gabe just laughed, shaking his head.
"Constable, I need some water," Amos Dixon called from his cell. Standing up, Gabe walked to the table and poured another cup for the prisoner. Once he had the cup back, he placed it on the table and made a mental note to get more water.
Suddenly the door burst open and in walked three men, all in red serge. Nathan quickly stood up and stood at attention, along with Gabe. Saluting back, they heard, "At ease gentlemen." and relaxed their stance.
Chief Superintendent Sam Collins had walked in first, followed by Superintendent Patrick O'Reilly. Constable Larry Collins was the last one to enter. After a moment, letting their eyes adjust to the darker interior of the room, Sam and Patrick walked to the cells holding the prisoners. Turing back just as quickly, they walked back to the front of the office.
"Gentleman," Patrick O'Reilly began, "Constable's Laudner and Robins will remain here to keep watch, you two come with us." And just as they had entered, the three men exited the building, Nathan and Gabe scrambling after them.
Once outside, they walked the short distance to the Judge's office. Hearing the footsteps coming up the stairs, Bill had stood up and began walking towards the door, when Superintendent O'Reilly opened it and the Chief Superintendent walked in. Coming up short, Bill smiled and extended his hand to each of them, "Sam, Patrick, it's nice to see you again."
"You to Bill." Patrick replied before introducing Constable Collins.
"Quite the mess you have here, huh? It's times like these that I am glad I got out of the Mounties." Bill smirked.
Sam Collins just shook his head before saying, "Bill, may we use your office?"
Smiling, Bill answered, "Sure, but I make no promises that the chair won't jump off the floor a few times."
That brought a smile to Nathan's face, remembering the inquiry a few years back.
"I don't think that will be necessary at this point Bill, I just want to know what is going on."
"I think we can all agree to that," Bill said, "Assuming we can forget the formalities and just speak."
"Agreed." Sam and Patrick replied in unison.
Walking towards the desk, Sam went straight for Bill's chair and sat down, making himself comfortable. He placed the folder he'd been carrying on the desk in front of him but left it closed. The others sat in the chairs surrounding the desk.
"Patrick, you begin."
Nodding, the Superintendent began, "For the last five years, we've been trying to put together a case against Andrew Hargraves, but had been unsuccessful getting any evidence of wrong doing because of the people he had either working for him by choice or by forcing them. He is extremely dangerous, and has ties to many different criminals, and our hands were tied when it came to bringing charges against him. What we do know is this, he and a man named Amos Dixon are the leaders of a large crime syndicate, with ties to a lot of influential people. We don't go into details about that right now, but just know that is why he has been protected all this time. He used his position of authority to assist, those working for him, in escaping either arrest or charges. However, with the chain of events we heard about from Constable Collins, we were able to get a warrant to arrest him on the charge of abuse of power by ordering Constable's Grant and Kinslow to Union City under false pretenses. I understand he is currently in the infirmary?"
Seeing the nods from those who would know, he continued, "However, without hard evidence we will most likely be forced to release him by those higher in the Mountie ranks."
"Believe me, gentleman, I am extremely upset about this corruption within the Mountie ranks, I can say it goes up to the commissioner, and promise that it will be brought to light at whatever cost, but for the moment, please, let's focus on this situation. If we can prove Hargraves is involved with Dixon and Shaw, it will be the key to everything else." Sam interjected
"I am sorry, did you say Shaw, as in Casimir Shaw?" Bill asked, quickly looking at Nathan.
Patrick answered this with, "Yes, one of the men arrested along with Shaw has given us some additional information. Dixon, Hargraves and Shaw are at the head of this group, and it's been for a very long time."
"Again, I know this is a lot to digest, and there are many questions that need answers, but please let's focus on what happened today." Sam said, taking over the conversation, "Larry told me what he knows, but please tell me what you know."
"Nathan, I think you're up, pal." Bill said, motioning for him to begin.
"I'd rather not get into the details, if you don't mind, of where this all started, but I will tell you how it happened. My family has been involved in politics for a very, very long time. Which meant that my brothers and sisters, along with myself, were expected to keep the family name where it belonged, as my father would remind us. I never could get comfortable in that kind of lifestyle. Gatherings that went on all night, fancy dinners with so many people talking about things they shouldn't know. It was exhausting, or at least I found it to be so. My brothers and sisters all took to that kind of life, but I struggled with it. My parents, knowing how I struggled began using discipline as a way to force me to act, as they deemed, properly. The older I got, the more I began to really see and observe the people we were socializing with. I started a game with myself where I'd try to determine what kind of politician they were, honest or corrupt, just by watching them. I got pretty good at it actually, and it was a very useful when interviewing different people." Jessie smiled timidly, before continuing. "Superintendent Hargraves was one of my father's closest friends and was always considered part of the family. One night I overheard a conversation I shouldn't have between the two of them. The rule in the house was, if you hear something you shouldn't forget it. I wasn't very good at obeying that particular rule, although I never shared what I heard with anyone, I didn't forget it either, and I can admit it was wrong, I started writing things down. Well not things so much as names or places. Two names always came up with my father and Superintendent Hargraves would discuss things privately, Dixon and Casimir."
Seeing both Elizabeth and Rosemary stiffen, she paused for a moment and then remembering Casimir Shaw had recently been in Hope Valley, she added, "Yes, the same Casimir Shaw who was arrested earlier this week."
Reaching up to her cheek, Elizabeth gently rubbed the spot where his ring had cut her, going back to that evening in the saloon, being forced upstairs by that man….
It was Rosemary, calling her name broke through her thoughts, which she was grateful for. "Sorry, ..." she began apologizing.
"No, don't be sorry, we were just worried about you is all." Rosemary said, reaching out to squeeze her hand.
Jessie, was looking confused after watching the interaction, so Rosemary explained. "When Shaw was here a few days ago Elizabeth and I ended up as hostages for him in the saloon. Thankfully Nathan and the Mounties arrived in time, or it could have been much worse."
"Is that how he was finally caught?" Jessie asked.
Both Rosemary and Elizabeth nodded, before Elizabeth smiled and said, "But that is a story for another day, please Jessie, continue yours."
"I ended up in a similar situation with the Superintendent, although it wasn't quite as dramatic as that, actually and didn't have such a hero centric ending." Jessie said, trying to mask the pain in her voice. Knowing she couldn't avoid this part, she decided to just say the truth, for once. "Shortly after he became a Superintendent, my family had a celebration in his honor. At one point I was in the room next to my father's personal study, where the two of them were talking. I overheard the entire conversation and when the Superintendent found out, he forced me into his room and …" the tears had started falling, and she couldn't finish the sentence. Looking up at her two new friends she was overcome with grief, and embarrassment, anger and shame over what had happened. It was in the past, and she'd been able to avoid the reminders but not this time.
Elizabeth and Rosemary, knowing what she was trying to say, immediately went to her, wrapping her in a hug between the two of them, not saying anything, just letting Jessie work through her emotions.
A short time later she was able two compose herself, and gratefully accepted the handkerchief they handed her.
"And don't you dare say "sorry", Ms. Jessie, you have absolutely nothing to apologize for." Rosemary admonished her as she sat back down.
"You reported him, right?" Elizabeth began to ask but didn't finish when Jessie started shaking her head.
"When I woke up the next morning, I told him I would report him. He laughed and asked if I was going to report him to since he was an official of the law, and I wasn't underage. He then told me that because of his new position he had the ability to turn things around and place the fault on me for what happened. I immediately when to my father, but he told me to just keep quiet and that I'd forget about it soon enough. It was right then that I knew what I was going to do with my life. I was going into journalism, which would allow me to investigate and compile evidence against Andrew Hargraves until I had enough to protect myself from whatever he would do. The next day I went to the only person I could trust, my Aunt and Uncle Collins, and asked to live with them. I was one of the few in my family they actually liked, so were happy to take me in. I never confided in them, but a cousin through my Uncle Collins, Lawrence found me one day, looking at some Mountie reports I'd gotten for a story I was doing, and got the truth out of me. He'd just become a Mountie himself, and wasn't sure anyone would take him seriously anyway, but he offered to help. It was a lot of work, but we finally have the evidence we need to accuse him, and keep ourselves safe."
Chief Superintendent Collins was ashamed. Nathan had just finished explaining to them what had happened, and he felt sick to his stomach. After a moment he cleared his throat before saying, "Constable's Grant and Kinslow, I very much want to say that on behalf of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, we are very sorry about what happened, I feel that would be disingenuous given what we've discovered to be happening within our ranks. I will say, and I am sure Patrick feels the same, how very sorry we are, on a personal level, for how far this man has taken things. Maybe we should have acted on this sooner and not waited until we had all the evidence. As we all know, hindsight is always 20/20, and while we can't change the past, we will make things right. Andrew Hargraves has been relieved of his duties and is currently under guard until the doctor says he can leave. At which time he will be placed in official custody of the Mounties, and await trial in prison. As Casimir Shaw is currently in prison, awaiting his trial, that leave Amos Dixon, whom I believe is currently in the jail here, along with another accomplice. Those two will be taken to Granville to await trial there. Patrick himself will take care of those details."
"Gentlemen," he continued, "I recognize we have only scratched the surface on this, but the hour is getting late, and I suggest we adjourn for the night and resume this conversation tomorrow." Looking around he smiled as each man nodded in agreement. "So, it's not just my age telling me to be done?" he joked.
Letting the chuckles fade he started again, "Just a few things before we leave. First, please keep the proceeding of this discussion and anything else related to it, to the six of us only. All orders will come from me, with Patrick being the facilitator." All men nodded in agreement.
"And finally, "he said, looking directly at Nathan, "Nathan, I do not, nor will I accept your resignation from the Mounties today. Not only have you proven yourself over and over to be a prime example of what a Constable of a small town should be, today has had to many emotions and I don't want you making a decision in haste, after what's happened today, and well all this week."
"Sir, while I appreciate the compliments, and am honored to have served, the resignation is something I would like to pursue." Nathan explained.
"So you want to leave?" Collins asked, surprised.
"I do sir. I have a family, and frankly I don't want to keep putting them through the stress of being the family of a Mountie."
"Oh, I was unaware of you having a family, Nathan, aside from your niece of course, who I very much admire, but that is a conversation for another day."
"Thank you sir, she is the best thing that ever happened to me."
"And your family?"
"Well we're not officially a family, yet, but I hope to make it official very soon." Nathan explained, trying to keep the blush from taking over his cheeks.
"I can appreciate that reasoning, trust me, in's crossed my mind many times over my career. Patrick, I am sure you would say the same thing?" Sam looked at O'Reilly and received confirmation. "However, I would ask that you take some time to really think about it, and I am not talking about a weekend at home. As soon as this thing with Hargraves is over, I will be temporarily assigning Larry here in Hope Valley and ordering you to take a two-week, lets call it, leave of absence, with pay of course. And none of this staying in town and still getting involved with things, I want you to really distance yourself from anything related to the Mounties. Then after the two weeks, we will talk more. Is that acceptable?"
Seeing the hesitation on his face, Bill decided to jump in as well, "Nathan, you don't want to make a final decision on a day like today, or this week even. Take the time off, get away, go and visit your mom or your dad, take Allie to a baseball game, spend time with Elizabeth and Jack. You know school's starting in a few weeks, so what better time will you have to build on those relationships without other outside pressure?"
Hearing those names, Patrick asked, "Elizabeth? As in Jack Thornton's widow?"
Feeling the blush starting to creep in Nathan could only nod.
Sam and Patrick both looked at Bill who smiled proudly and said, "It's true."
"That does help your decision to make a little more sense, but my request remains. Will you accept it?"
"Seem's like a fair deal to me, my friend." Gabriel said with a grin.
He couldn't foresee his decision changing, even after two weeks away, but the idea of spending time with Elizabeth, and the kids, away from the Mounties was appealing, and there was a very small part of him that knew he'd miss his job if he resigned. "I accept, Sir, thank you."
The collective breath that was being held was let go and the energy in the room became lighter.
Bill, relieved that Nathan had agreed, called out, "Dinner at the Café, on me gentlemen, well except Nathan, I have a feeling some people are waiting anxiously for him to come home." Before winking at Nathan, a father's pride washing over him.