Chapter 23

23

The door at the back of the courtroom slammed open.

"Something's happened!" Brand Nolte shouted. "Dakota and Maeve are gone. They left the children behind. They vanished. We need help."

Jake stood, whirled around, and thought the very worst. Rutledge had done this.

The gavel came down onto the judge's desk. "This trial is in recess."

Dr. Snider, being questioned now by Rutledge's lawyer, leapt up and rushed toward Brand.

Jake shoved past Oscar, who still held Jacob. The sleeping boy sat up with a start.

The deputy at the back of the room surged to his feet. "I'll get the sheriff." He jabbed a finger at Rutledge. "You're still under arrest. Judge, make sure he stays here."

To Jake's amazement, Judge Nolte drew a pistol and aimed it right at Thaddeus Rutledge. "Remain seated, sir."

The deputy nodded his thanks and ran outside.

Jake shouted, "Oscar! Stay here with Ginny and Beth, keep them safe. Sebastian, come with me."

Sebastian was hard on Jake's heels, who was outside before he realized Kat had come along. He had no idea how tough she was, but he wasn't going to take the time to argue with her. "Where did you see them last?"

Brand had come along. No child in his arms. Jake saw the judge's daughter across the street with three little ones surrounding her. She seemed to be handling things.

"Michaela, get yourself inside the courthouse." Brand said to Jake, "There's a livery right down the street. I already looked—they're not around, and they'd have never left the children. They've been kidnapped for certain."

Brand nodded, and Jake ran to get a horse under him. Brand and Sebastian kept up, with Kat only a pace behind them. Before they mounted, both Kat and Sebastian checked to make sure their six-shooters were loaded.

"They must've rode out by way of an alley so that no one would see 'em." Brand was talking as fast as he was moving. "Michaela was in the front of the store when she realized the children were loose and unattended. They can't have been gone long."

Jake looked at Sebastian. "You rent the horses. I'm going to see if there's anyone behind that store who saw anything."

He rushed to the back of the store and found a tinsmith shop right across from the back door. Jake hoped to find someone who could tell them which way to go.

Rutledge looked flustered. "You have no business stopping this trial, Your Honor. Whatever is going on out in the streets, justice needs to be served in here."

Ignoring him, the judge said, "The jury is dismissed. Please leave the courtroom, gentlemen. All of the trial observers, you can leave as well."

Mainly she was referring to a few newspaper reporters. As everyone filed out of the room, Nell shifted her gun, aimed at Rutledge, to her other hand, her eyes narrowed. He had to be behind this. "No offer from you, Mr. Rutledge, to let that young couple go if Ginny will agree to go back to Chicago with you?"

She watched Rutledge, his face flushed with anger, struggle to his feet. The man was old and battered. Why was he here searching for a wife he didn't want, had kept locked up for years before she found a way to escape? Because he wanted her money. That's the only motive that made any sense.

The deputy came rushing back in. "Judge, the sheriff wants me to mind the prisoner."

"Take him away, Deputy. I want him behind bars until all this is settled."

"Trust a woman to stop work the minute something gets in the way." Rutledge slammed his left fist on the table before him. She'd noticed he favored his right hand.

She needed him to talk. "Before the deputy escorts you back to jail, you get one more chance, Mr. Rutledge. Who did you hire to harm that young couple? How long before we can expect a list of demands in exchange for their safe return?"

"I know nothing about what happened to them. I don't even know who those people are except that they're apparently tending my grandchildren."

"Thaddeus," Ginny piped up, her voice ice-cold, "no one else has a motive to want to hurt them. They're all strangers in this town. I will not go with you no matter what terrible thing you've got arranged. Now cooperate with the judge. You're not back in Chicago, surrounded by all your powerful cronies. You're not even in Independence, Missouri, where you could bribe officials so they wouldn't arrest you for attempting to kidnap Kat. You're in Wyoming. And if that couple gets hurt, or worse, killed, you're going to hang for it."

The back door of the courtroom flew open, and Michaela walked in with three children.

Nell looked at the deputy. "Please get him out of here."

The deputy strode forward and clapped shackles on Rutledge's wrists and led him out of the courtroom. The man snarled and protested the entire way out. His lawyer rushed to catch up with them, shouting at the deputy, while Dr. Horecroft followed along without a fuss.

Beth hurried over to Michaela, Ginny right behind her. They took the baby and the little girl. All of the adults exchanged looks.

Oscar asked Beth, "Are you armed?"

Beth, Lydia in one arm, pulled a Colt Peacemaker out of her reticule. Ginny took a derringer out of a pocket in her calico dress.

The judge, who already had her gun out, carefully aimed it away from the children.

Oscar went to Ginny, caught her arm, and said, "I'm going, but you be careful. Just because your husband is locked up doesn't mean he didn't hire someone other than whoever took Dakota and Maeve. I thought a few on the jury looked a bit too kindly at Rutledge and Horecroft. I hate to have to leave you, but I can't stay behind."

"We'll be fine," the judge said. "Go. You can catch up to them if you hurry. Sounded like they're riding to the west of town."

Beth said, "Kat and Sebastian live west of town. Maybe they're heading for land our friends are familiar with. We're going to the hotel. We'll wait there for you."

Oscar gave Ginny a long look. For a moment, Nell wondered if maybe he'd change his mind and not go. The man looked torn right in half. But then he whirled away and ran out of the courtroom.

Nell turned to the two women, then looked at Mr. Etherton and Dr. Snider, who were still there. The reporters had all run off when the judge ordered them to leave. They went so fast and with such enthusiasm that she suspected they thought there was a good news story beyond the courthouse. "Aren't you gentlemen going to help the others?"

Mr. Etherton shrugged a shoulder. "I'm not a great rider, nor am I a skilled gunman. But I will escort you ladies and the little ones to the hotel and stay there with you."

"I'll come along," Dr. Snider said. "I know a few lawmen who are in town. Once you've settled in at the hotel, I'll go tell them what's happened with the young couple."

Nell nodded. Her stomach twisted as she thought of her farmer husband involved in a gunfight. Yet he was a tough man who'd spent the last few years learning how to track and getting more comfortable with his gun. She prayed he'd get through this without harm coming to him. She caught herself running a hand over her still-flat stomach, then said, "Let's go. Everybody stay together and remain calm. Everything's going to be all right."

"We'll do everything just as you said, Judge Nolte," Ginny snapped, "with one exception."

Nell realized by her stubborn upwelling of annoyance that she was used to giving orders and having them obeyed. A bit too used to it, in fact. "What is the exception?"

"We're not going to the hotel. We're going to the jailhouse."