HI Folks! Just a little update if you are following the story. Looks like all is not kosher with Caroline McAlroy and in the meantime poor William is running into roadblocks trying to apprehend his criminals. Meanwhile, Eliza is trying to be a good girl and work at home and help William during her pregnancy. Thank you for reading. Please respond if you feel you want to. Thanks - Carebearmaxi
Frightened
Chapter 8
Caroline McAlroy arrived back at home and stomped through the door. She was carrying the baby catalog that Eliza Wellington had given to her. When Caroline opened the door, a man, tall and lanky, sat in the only easy chair facing the door.
"Jimmy! You gave me a fright! Put that gun away! You nearly shot me!"
Jimmy McAlroy, Caroline's husband, had stopped at his home to see his expectant wife as he had promised. However, knowing that he had escaped from prison while he awaited trial, he had spent most of the time at the Irish gang's safehouse which was where he had obtained the revolver (a onetime policeman's issue) he had pointed at the doorway when Caroline stepped through.
"No one's followed me," Caroline said. "It's all right you can put the gun down." She walked over to her husband and bent over as best she could to give him a kiss. Jimmy reached up with his lips only and made no other sign of affection towards his wife.
"You do know that your "friend" is the wife of acting Chief of Police William Wellington and was the one who identified me and put me in jail," Jimmy rose towering over his much more petite wife.
"Of course, I do. Why do you think I've become her friend? She thinks I'm absolutely oblivious to who she and her husband are. So, look I did get the papers back. She slid them in this baby catalog," Caroline said handing Jimmy the papers who threw them across the room.
"Well, la-di-da, Mrs. McAlroy! I know they must have made copies, so I expect Wellington will be here any minute with warrants for my re-arrest and for my escape," Jimmy fired back wildly pacing the room. He looked at his wife briefly while he paced back and forth rapidly.
"How'd you know they made copies?" Caroline asked. "Eliza only took them two days ago?"
"Because of my mole, that's why!"
"Oh, Franklin! I forgot about him," Caroline confessed.
A few minutes passed while Jimmy crouched looking through the half-shaded windows.
"I don't think he'll be coming soon. Don't you think he would want to work from an element of surprise?" Caroline said as she took a seat on the couch.
"By the way, my girl, how is that 'baby' ? Jimmy asked his wife with a smirk.
"Well, it'll be great once I get this pillow out from under my dress," Caroline smirked back. She rose with little difficulty. When she rose she turned away from her husband and removed a large belt (her husband's) and let it drop to the floor with a thud and then proceeded to pull a large sofa pillow from her under her dress.
"I've had the baby! What'd you think?" She asked her husband laughing heartily. "Those Wellingtons won't know what hit them if your plans go rightly."
"You do remember to flatten your accent when you speak with Eliza Wellington, don't you?"
"Of course, I do. She flattens her, too. She's never recognized me from the courthouse."
"She's very smart. She's a private detective, too, you know."
"Oh Bah! Right! She thinks she's a private detective," Caroline scoffed.
"Well, regardless," Jimmy went on. "We have to be careful. I have to return to the safe house soon."
"Ok. I can make us an early dinner," Caroline said kissing her tall lanky husband.
"I almost wish you were really expecting, Caroline. It might be nice to have a little one scooting around."
"We can work on that as soon as we're back in Ireland!"
"Yes, we can."
Meanwhile William was gathering his men to preview the arrests of the Irish gang and its leaders. They were in his office, and it was hot and crowded on this April night.
"Dock 51 is located at the end of the pier. It houses the smallest boats and so the gathering will be crowded to say the least. The understanding is that Jimmy will be giving his crew his last instructions and leave before he and his wife leave for Ireland on the next ship arriving on Tuesday. Let's just say Jimmy and his gang will not be on the boat for Ireland if we have anything to say about it. Let's thank Officer Rory Franklin for this information. Good work, sir!"
"Thank you," Officer Franklin responded to his boss.
"Chief Wellington!" Officer Carlyle called out to William.
"Yes, Lieutenant Carlyle," William said as Lt. Carlyle approached William at the front of the room. William raised a finger to his men to be patient as Officer Carlyle had asked William to speak to him in a corner alone.
Lt. Carlyle, a man just recently promoted to Lieutenant told William that the judge would not grant a search warrant for McAlroy's residence and furthermore the planned raid for the next night was to be postponed as it seems McAlroy had left the area.
"What the hell!" William exclaimed. "Who is the judge to tell me when I am to plan a raid and when not to and why would he not grant a warrant?"
Lionel Carlyle eyed his superior officer and said, "The Judge McNeil said there were no grounds for the search warrant because the copies had not been out of the chain of custody and would serve as evidence. However, the raid planned had to be postponed as there is a special occasion, some anniversary, and that part of the pier will be occupied with people other than the McAlroy's gang."
William responded with a grunt and scowl, "When is going to be a good time then?"
After a moment where William's nostrils flared and breathed fire, he calmly asked Carlyle if the judge was in his office.
"Yes, but I think he said he would be in court the rest of the afternoon."
"So, what does he suppose me to do now that I have made the plans, and I must make him understand that this is the best time to gather all of McAlroy's men into one place to arrest them. It may flush McAlroy out."
"I did take the liberty of saying this to his honor, but he simply laughed in my face and thinks you are being too hysterical being that your expectant wife was involved."
William's snarled in his throat and punched the wood of the desk in his frustration.
Why is it? In both places where there are criminals for the taking and I can't do a thing about it even though I hold the highest office in the precinct? This is happening now as it did in London as well at Scotland Yard when I was Detective Inspector. How am I to keep Eliza safe from being hunted and killed?
These were real concerns of William's as McAlroy's wife and Eliza were now friends. Or were they? William had a hunch that Caroline McAlroy was not as oblivious and innocent as she portrayed.
"Thank you, Lionel. I'll inform the men," William said with a slight smile. He still tapped his foot to show his impatience with Judge McNeil.
He turned back then to his men explaining why things were on hold and told them to resume to their normal assignments. William watched as every man in the room departed. There was one man left who looked at loose ends which could have been from any number of items that could have arisen within the last fifteen minutes.
"Officer Franklin? "
Rory Franklin acknowledged the Chief and said, "Yes Chief?"
"Do you not have an assignment?"
"Not really. Just going back to the previous investigation, I was working."
"Well, then, go with Lieutenant Carlyle and surveille McAlroy's residence. We may be lucky enough to catch him visiting his wife tonight. After all she is an expectant mother," William stated and noticed the shuffling of Franklin's feet and they odd look in his eyes.
"Yes, sir," Office Franklin turned and joined Carlyle at the door. From behind Franklin's head William's eyes sent a silent message to Carlyle.
Eliza in the meantime was conducting her own research by reading the newspaper and gleaning what details she could from the police reports that William had conveniently left for her. Normally, Eliza knew that she would not be privy to William's work but in this case William and she had begun this investigation as joint partners formally employed by the New York Police Department. Once William slid into Chief of Police's position, it was too late to change the tactic.
Eliza stood at her full length bedroom mirror preparing for bed when the thought of Caroline and their meeting two days before had suddenly emerged. Eliza could not help feeling something about Caroline McAlroy was amiss.
Distracted suddenly by her bump which was more now like a hill and growing larger everyday with the coming child, Eliza patted her tummy and talked out loud to her belly.
"I know this looks silly, talking to my stomach, but I really can't wait until you're here, little one. I know your papa talks to you, too. Just don't tell him I know," Eliza said and looking in the mirror smiled at herself.
As she consoled the child in her womb by rubbing her belly over her loose fitting nightshift, Eliza's unquiet mind returned to Caroline McAlroy. Eliza slipped on her slippers and put on her dressing gown and went to the living room to wait for William who was very late home. She always became a bit uneasy, but she knew that William knew how to take care of himself and always murmured a prayer when she was alone that William would be protected. The last thing she wanted was to live through a repeat performance of when William had been shot in England a previous two years past.
Her thoughts returning to her recent lunch with McAlroy's wife, Eliza felt that Caroline McAlroy was not as silly and ignorant as once believed. The first deduction was physical appearance thought Eliza. She had known Caroline for a month now and supposedly she was as far along as she in her pregnancy as Eliza was in her own. Eliza's and William's child was due in late June and so said was the McAlroy baby. Eliza looked in the mirror earlier and noticed how wide her face had become in her pregnancy. She had been seemingly gaining weight everywhere. Even William had remarked on it and said how beautiful she was with a full face and ripe with expecting his "bairn". Ignoring her rejoinder to him when he said it, Eliza's thought continued.
Caroline's figure never changed. She never looked maternally at her belly or mentioned when her child moved or even swiped a hand over it once in a while. When rising or descending to a sitting position it seemed that Caroline's inability to do this had suddenly disappeared. As a matter of fact, Caroline had suddenly become rather agile at rising and descending. Eliza envied Caroline's ease and so she watched. Caroline bent at the waist which with a seventh month belly was not to be accomplished.
The next clue that something was amiss was that Caroline had said she did not meet often with her husband's business wives. Why would that be? Unless they knew who she was and how dangerous it was to be seen with her.
The last clue which just popped into her brain was that Caroline had called William 'Mr. Wellington'. William had imperceptibly flinched when he heard that from her mouth and looked at Eliza. Eliza had introduced herself as Mrs. Scarlet (her maiden name) when she originally made friendly overtures to Caroline.
Suddenly, the front door opened and William, muttering angrily to himself hung his light jacket on the hook by the foyer.
Eliza catapulted herself as best she could and flew (as best she could) to William as he turned around. He had put his arms around her to prevent her falling.
"Eliza!"
"William!"
"Caroline McAlroy knows who we are!" They exclaimed together.
"What's more is that they have someone in my office working with them," William said as he turned his wife around and walked with her back to the drawing room.
"How did you figure it out?" William asked her.
Eliza gave him an excited smile.
"Caroline bent at the waist to get up from her seat earlier today. I watched her. Watch!"
Eliza showed William how with a large pregnant belly one did not bend at the waist and shoot up from a sitting position."
"Interesting discovery," William responded as he assisted Eliza to rise from the couch.
"Also she told me that the other wives of her husband's business are not allowed to socialize with her. From my knowledge of women, especially wives, they usually cluster together very tightly."
"Since when I have you ever been a clusterer, my love?"
Eliza smiled. "My point exactly, William!"
"Thirdly," Eliza continued. "You flinched when she addressed you "Mr. Wellington." I gave her my maiden name as a married name when I introduced myself to her. How all of a sudden did she know that your name is Wellington not Scarlet."
"That's good work. Now I have discovered that Rory Franklin knows the McAlroys and that he is using his position with the police as a means to help the gang members escape arrest and deportation."
Eliza took a seat at their kitchen table as William warmed his dinner in the oven. William was much more domestic than Eliza and realized that if he and Eliza were in business together and she did a traditionally male job that he should consider the kitchen an equal playing field as well. It had been quite a revelation for them.
When the meal was finished heating, William found two oven gloves and removed his dinner from the oven. He placed it on the towel on the tablecloth which Eliza had laid down for him on the table.
William took a bite, and the food was a little too hot, so he took a sip of water to cool his mouth.
"Oh, that's hot!" William remarked.
"I told you to blow on your food before shoving it down your throat. You still devour food like that 19-year-old I found in my father's kitchen."
William gave her a fleeting smile and then swallowed before continuing his recourse
"As I was saying Franklin reacted very strangely when I mentioned Caroline McAlroy. His eyes had a strange light in them and flickered up to mine rather quickly like I had caught him in a lie of some sort."
"So what can you do about it?"
"I assigned Franklin on Lieutenant Carlyle's detail. I filled Lionel in before I left tonight. He gave me his report from the McAlroy's house…with Franklin," William shoveled into his mouth the last bit of food from his plate and then began to regale his story as he rolled up his sleeves.
"Carlyle gave me his report which was more to do with Franklin's behavior than with surveilling the McAlroy's."
Eliza snatched a bit of a carrot from William's plate with her fingers. She then asked, "So what was his behavior?"
"Wife, did you not eat dinner?" William temporarily changing the subject as his wife began to snatch a few more vegetables and then a piece of lamb from his plate.
"Yes, but I wasn't very hungry then, so I only ate a little. Suddenly it looks more appetizing while it's sitting on your plate," Eliza explained with an apologetic look.
William smiled again. "You can't properly feed my child with just picking at your food." He turned around and saw that there had been quite a bit of food leftover from his meal on the counter.
Ignoring protestations from Eliza, he rose and grabbed a plate from the overhead cabinet and shoveled some vegetables and a couple of pieces of meat onto a plate. The food was still hot, and William licked his finger as he returned to the table.
Eliza smiled at him, thanked him, and taking his fork she began to devour the leftover dinner. She looked up at her husband who's laughing smile made her smile in return.
"When you have properly finished your dinner, then we will return to our conversation," William said smiling.
"So you also believe that Judge McNeil is in with the gangs as well? This was after your raid for tomorrow night was cancelled and he would not issue warrants," Eliza said sighing afterwards.
They were sitting on their sofa in their living room and Eliza had her feet in William's lap. He rubbed them every now and then as they conversed.
"Eliza, your ankles are so swollen. No wonder they are hurting," William said noticing them as he rubbed them.
"Doctor Althorp and Dr. Baker both say it's perfectly normal for a woman in late pregnancy to swell up everywhere including her ankles," Eliza explained embarrassed that William should notice.
"You don't have to get so testy, woman. I wasn't teasing you. I am concerned. That's all. Never took care of a pregnant lady before," William said as he watched her face go from embarrassment to appreciation.
"I'm sorry, dearest. I'm tired and I can't wait to have this little one and get my body back to normal size. You can't imagine how uncomfortable I've become."
"No, I can't. I know you'll hate me for saying this, but I'm glad you're carrying the bairn and not me."
"There are other instances where I think pregnancy is very exciting and interesting, but the next couple of months are said to be hard on one's body as the baby grows to become a full fledge human not just a cluster of organs forming."
"Tell me more about what's happening with your daily hunt for Jimmy McAlroy, I miss working with you on the road."
"On the road?" William questioned. "You make our business sound glamorous like we are really going "on the road."
"You know what I mean, William."
He chuckled and nodded. He yawned large and loudly.
"Eliza, how about we talk in bed. I'm so tired I could fall asleep right here." He gently placed her feet on the floor.
Eliza rose and came over to William. He fit her between his open legs, and she put her arms around him. They kissed and then she put her arms around her husband's head as it rested on her large belly. Eliza could feel his smile through her thin shift.
"What is it?" Eliza asked quietly as she stroked his hair which had come loose from its pomade.
"I think I can hear the baby's heartbeat."