Part Six
The Night of the Long Knives
When Nathan Jackson returned to
Nathan knew he would never forget how Rebecca had died
in his arms or what she had meant to him. Those memories were burned into his
mind like a branding iron whose mark would never fade away, no matter how much
time had passed. Rebecca in her short time on this Earth had shaped him the way
only someone truly extraordinary could ever hope to do. However ugly the crime
that Serfonteine had committed in taking her away from him, Rebecca's effect on
his life was eternal and with that realization, Nathan began to give Rain's
words some credence.
He returned to town feeling slightly better because
even if Serfonteine was here, Nathan knew with confidence that he could endure
the man's presence. He was not going to give Serfonteine the satisfaction of
knowing that he was something malleable under the man's savage grip. The days
when Nicholas Serfonteine had that much influence over his being was over and
Rain had been correct in telling Nathan that he did not need to give his former
master that advantage again.
Besides, what Chris and the others had tried so hard
to convince him of, was right. He had a life now. Thanks to Alexandra Styles,
the possibility of becoming Doctor Jackson was within his reach. He had people
in his life he cared about, a future that required the sacrifice of his revenge
to see fulfilled and not to mention Rain whom he wanted as his wife more than
anything else. He wanted to marry her one day when he was finally a doctor.
Nicholas Serfonteine was not worth risking his whole life.
Rebecca of all people, would understand that
reasoning.
He wondered what had happened in town the past week
and hoped Miss Julia was feeling a great deal better. Understandably, Miss Alex
had not asked for his help when she was treating the young woman and in light
of the situation, Nathan could appreciate why the doctor had asked for Mary
Travis' assistance instead.
Losing a child was no easy thing for a woman to bear
and sometimes the best medicine was a little bit of empathy. Mary of all
people, knew exactly what Julia was going through and could offer the woman the
compassion she needed to get through this difficult time.
Of course, Nathan wanted to see how Ezra was doing.
Even though he had not seen Ezra before he left, Nathan now realized why the
gambler had been so preoccupied in the days before. Even though Ezra would have
them all believe that Julia was just another woman to him, the rest of the
seven knew better. No one discards someone like Alexandra Styles for a woman as
questionable as Julia Pemberton for no good reason unless some genuine
affection was at work.
Nathan had remembered how Ezra had been at the
Seminole village during their first adventure together and recalled how the
children had flocked around the southerner as he entertained them with card
tricks and other amusements. He gave the impression to everyone present that
despite his jaded facade, he liked children and enjoyed their company. Losing a
child might be a painful thing to Ezra as well and Nathan reminded himself to
pay a call on the man after he had got settled at home.
Upon entering the town, Nathan made his way to the
livery first and stabled his horse. Nothing in
After ensured his horse was stabled, fed and watered,
Nathan left the livery and made his way to his infirmary and home, carrying his
saddle bags and looking forward to a few hours sleep after the lengthy ride. He
had left the village not long before dawn had broken and had not broken his
journey in his desire to get home. It was early afternoon in
Passing by the hotel, he took note of Lars Johannsen
replacing the glass on the window of the saloon and attributed it to some bar
room altercation which was a way of life around these parts. He guessed he
would hear all about it when he saw the others, that is if there was anything
worth hearing about the event.
Nathan approached the old building that was his
current residence and the location of his infirmary where he traded his medical
services to the good folk of
He made his way up the creaky stairs his front door
since his part of the building was on the second floor. Mary Travis had talked
Mr. Rosken who owned the hardware store below, to let him lease the space since
the only sawbones in town at that point needed a place to see patients. He
rarely had anything to do with Rosken, seeing the man only when it was
necessary to pay his leasing fees.
Nathan arrived at the top of the stairs and fumbled
for his keys, not an easy procedure when he had heavy saddle bags slung across
his shoulders.
He did not see the note pasted sloppily across his
door with glue until he had found his keys and was preparing to open the door.
As his eyes skimmed over the contents, Nathan thought this has to be someone's
idea of a joke.
NOTICE TO EVICT
He had never seen an eviction notice in his entire
life and supposed that it was hardly surprising because he had never rented
anything before this. The document offered little explanation beyond a
statement declaring he had seven days to vacate and a signature by Mr. Rosken that
made the whole thing nice and legal.
Nathan snatched paper from the door and left half of
it still attached to the wooden surface where the glue had refused to yield.
Shrugging his saddle bags from his shoulders, Nathan was hardly aware when they
fell heavily onto the floor.
He hurried down the steps, demanding an explanation
for this sudden ejection, having not even pause to think about what such a move
would do to his life. It was not as if he could not find another place, he
could with little difficulty but he had become accustomed to its premises.
Sure, it was hardly the most lavish set of rooms to be found in
Fortunately, the store was empty when Nathan sighed
Rosken behind his counter. He stared at Nathan behind his steel rimmed glasses
and immediately straightened his stout frame, practicing some ageless ritual of
posture when confronting some form of danger. Nathan forced himself to calm
down, knowing that he ought to give the man the benefit of the doubt, that his
eviction might have some purpose to which he was not privy to yet.
"Mr. Jackson." Rosken replied coldly with
obvious disdain and suddenly Nathan felt something very ominous on the horizon
that was about to hit him with the weight of a freight train.
"Mr. Rosken." Nathan said reminding himself
to keep a level head. "I just found your note. I would like to know why
you are evicting me."
"I do not see why I have to give you a
reason." Rosken said stiffly and moved to the other end of the counter
where he proceeded to take count of the money in the till.
"I've lived in the place for almost two
years!" Nathan barked, unable to suppress his annoyance at the man's
indifference. "I have a business there. I think that at least gives me the
right to an explanation."
He looked at Nathan and let out a sigh as if dealing
with some undisciplined child. "I had a better offer for that space."
He said finally. "More than you've been giving me and certainly more than
I can turn down."
Nathan felt his stomach clench in anger, thinking that
all this had come about because of money. He swallowed hard and asked quietly.
"How much more?"
"More than you can afford." The shit eating
grin with which he delivered his statement more than confirmed how pleased he
was with himself.
Nathan suddenly understood that even if he did have
the money to match his unseen rival, Rosken would not take it anyway. "I
see," he nodded, understanding things clearly now, feeling his heart sink.
"May I ask who you're renting the place to?"
Rosken looked uncomfortable for the first time as if
the answer might cause him some unspeakable harm. "It's none of your damn
business!" He snapped defensively and only made Nathan more determined to
know the identity of the person who was responsible for turning him out of his
home.
"That's alright Mr. Rosken." A familiar
voice responded behind them and immediately forced Nathan to face the speaker.
"If it would induce you to stop harassing my new
friend Mr. Rosken, I have not difficulty allowing that information be made
public." Nicholas Serfonteine said with a smile.
He had noticed Nathan returning to town and knew that
this confrontation would follow when the man discovered the note on his door
that would see him unceremoniously forced from his home. It had been relatively
easy for Nicholas to wave enough money under Rosken's nose to have the man
agree to evict his tenant whom it appeared the landlord had little affection
because of his colour. Apparently, the charming Mary Travis had convinced him
against his better judgement to let Nathan Jackson lease the premises even
though he had not liked the idea. However, Nicholas could understand why it was
so hard to say no to the fair Mrs. Travis.
"You rented the place to him?" Nathan was so
livid he could barely speak. He glared at Rosken who was now starting to think
that this was a very bad idea since it appeared he had unwittingly played the
part in some vendetta between the these two men.
"Yes he did." Nicholas answered before
Rosken could. "I have decided to make some investments in this area and I
believe I shall need office space." He sounded almost gleeful as he
continued speaking. "I am so sorry that this inconveniences you Mr.
Jackson but I'm certain a medical man such as yourself will have no trouble
finding alternate premises."
Don't give him the satisfaction of seeing you angry.
Nathan told himself that repeatedly as he swallowed
the bile of rage that had formed a lump in his throat and was making it
difficult to talk. "No trouble at all." He said staring Serfonteine
straight in the eye with his head held high. "This ain't the only place in
town."
With that, Nathan cast a look of disgust in Rosken's
direction and swept out of the place before good sense left him and he tore out
Serfonteine's throat like his baser instincts desired so profoundly at this
moment.
That's the fifth one today.
Alexandra Styles glanced at the clock on her wall and
decided that Mrs. Wallace was half an hour late for her appointment and was
most likely not coming.
Canceled appointments were nothing new, they were part
and parcel of a having an office. People often felt uncomfortable about
consulting a doctor and were known to falter at the last minute, no matter how
resolved they were to get medical aid. Still, five cancellations was not the
norm and Alex could not help wondering why that was so. It was not to say that
she had not seen any patients today but the ones who were absent had left her
concerned.
Needing some fresh air, Alex closed her appointment
book and stepped out from behind her desk. Outside, the sun was shining and was
telling her that despite it being autumn, she had no business being confined on
a day like this. Her next appointment, if they showed was almost an hour away
and Alex decided she might as well spend the time running some errands. Locking
up the door to the clinic behind her, Alex stepped into the afternoon heat and
relished the warmth on her skin.
Her face still throbbed from Lamont's attack but at
least the swelling had gone down and she hid her eye underneath a pair of dark
glasses she had bought during her last trip to the city which was before making
her arrival in
She wondered what Vin was doing today and gathered he
would no doubt be at the saloon or the jailhouse. Wherever he was, she had no
wish to intrude like some clinging woman. He had promised to take her out to
the creek near Nettie Wells' place for a bit of moonlight supper and Alex could
wait until then to see him.
For a man used to such a rough and tumble existence,
Vin could be exceedingly romantic when he wanted to be.
Alex had made her way into the heart of town when she
first noticed a few strange looks she was receiving from some of the townsfolk.
At first, the odd behaviour had slipped past her because for every odd stare
there was also a pleasant greeting from someone walking in her direction or
simply coming across her path as people tended to do in small towns like this.
However, when she noticed more than one or two people glaring at her with what
appeared to be hostility, Alex started to pay attention.
Then she noticed the whispers.
At first they were not very loud at first and certainly
not spoken by everyone she happened along. However, as she began taking greater
stock of what was going on around her, Alex saw the furtive glances in her
direction by some men but mostly women, who spoken in hushed tones as she
happened by them. Alex was becoming decidedly uncomfortable as she stepped onto
the boardwalk that took her to the general store where she had resolved to do
some shopping. Suddenly, she caught sight of Frannie Jacobson who had been one
of her appointments that had not shown. Mrs. Jacobson was a stern faced woman,
devoutly religious and hardened by a lifetime as a farmer's wife.
"Mrs. Jacobson," Alex said as she approached
her. "You missed your appointment with me."
Mrs. Jacobson who was accompanied by her young
daughter Susie, held the child close to her as Alex stood before them, almost
as if she were attempting to protect the child from harm. Judging by the grip
around the young girl's shoulder Mrs. Jacobson was adamant that Susie stay
where she was and not stray from that position. Susie, whom Alex had treated
for measles some months ago, seemed apprehensive about offering the doctor a
friendly smile and Alex met her mother's gaze to discover the cold stare she
was receiving from Mrs. Jacobson.
"I'm sorry, Doctor." Mrs. Jacobson said
sharply.
"Doctor?" Alex looked at her with surprise.
"I thought we had gotten past that Mrs. Jacobson, you had agreed to call
me Alexandra." Alex had been too informal for Mrs. Jacobson's taste and
they had reached a compromise with Alexandra.
"I'm afraid I'll be taking my business to
Sweetwater from now on, Doctor." The woman all but ignored Alex's earlier
remark.
It took a moment for Alex to guess what she meant by
business and then it dawned upon her what Mrs. Jacobson was telling her.
"You're seeing a doctor in Sweetwater?" Alex said in a calm, measured
voice, hiding how much Mrs. Jacobson's manner was upsetting her.
"Yes," the woman said stiffly. "I
prefer to see another doctor."
Alex swallowed and asked quietly. "May I ask
why?"
"May I be frank?" Mrs. Jacobson looked at
her with hard eyes.
"Certainly." Alex answered deciding she had
to hear this. Suddenly, she felt a bombshell about to drop right into her lap.
She almost refused but was too curious to keep Mrs. Jacobson from speaking her
mind. Besides, if the woman felt that the quality of service she was receiving
from Alex was less than adequate, Alex would like to know why.
"I do not wish to be associated with someone of
your questionable morals." Mrs. Jacobson announced with clear distaste in
her voice.
Alex thought she was joking but the expression on Mrs.
Jacobson's face showed that the woman was nothing but completely serious about
her outrageous statement. "Questionable morals?" Alex stammered,
almost unable to respond out of utter astonishment and stunned disbelief.
"A Christian woman does not lay with a man that
is not her own and certainly before she is wed. I do not want that kind of
wanton anywhere near my Susie." Mr. Jacobson said with no attempt to be
kind. "Now if you will excuse Doctor, I think this conversation is
over."
With that, Mrs. Jacobson turned on her heels and
walked briskly away in the opposite direction, dragging little Susie with her
and leaving Alexandra Styles to shocked to say a word in light of her abrupt
departure.
It took a few minutes for it to sink in and when it
did, Alex suddenly understood what those looks on the street had been all
about. A few more minutes passed before she had presence of mind to continue
walking, although she was almost moving in a dazed stupor. The shock had still
yet to fade from her encounter with Mrs. Jacobson as her mind descended into
chaos as it scrambled to understand what had just taken place. Eventually, Alex
tried to think how this could have happened. She and Vin had been very discreet
when it came to their intimate relations. Vin always ensured that no one saw
him coming and going. While it was commonly known that they were courting, Vin
and Alex had been careful by not allowing anyone to assume that their romance
had not progressed into the bedroom.
She continued walking towards the general store, no
longer paying attention to the people who might or might not be staring at her
with accusing eyes. Why would this surface now? Alex thought to herself,
oblivious to everyone around her. She and Vin had been sleeping together for
months now and Alex found it beyond the realm of possibility that any
impropriety should become a point of contention now. Had all her cancellations
today been due to the fact that the entire town considered her some sort of
wanton?
"I always knew that there was something strange
about her." Someone said.
Alex heard the voice state clearly as she neared the
main entrance of the shop. It snapped her out of her reverie and made her stop
in mid step. The group of women who were congregated together and gossiping
like a gaggle of geese did not see her and continued speaking, offering
colorful insights into the subject they were discussing with such passion.
"I mean do you see how she behaves around
him?" Another woman added. "I wonder how long its been going
on?"
"For months I hear." The first woman
answered. "I mean first she took up with Ezra Standish until of course he
wised up and left her for that nice Miss Pemberton."
"I would suggest you ladies keep your vile
opinions to yourself." The voice of Mary Travis spoke up and silenced the
others immediately. "Alexandra Styles has always comported herself with
complete propriety and you should all be ashamed of yourself. There was never
any hiding her relationship with Vin Tanner and those of you who have made it
more than it appears to be, are the ones who have behaved improperly!"
Alex had turned away, uncertain she was willing to
face a friend right now, even one who had defended her so ardently. Her privacy
was something she guarded fiercely and to hear that her relationship with Vin
was being discussed with such contempt and likened to some tawdry dime store
novel was more than she could stomach. She heard Mary's footsteps behind her
and realized with dismay that she was not going to escape unseen.
"Alex." Mary exclaimed seeing her hurrying
down the boardwalk. Mary threw a venomous look at the women who had been
speaking so callously about Alex, with no knowledge that the doctor had heard
every word of their conversation. Mary did not wait to see their reaction and
went after Alex, who no doubt must be mortified by what was being said about
her.
It did not take Mary long to catch up with Alex, who
did not look up as she neared her. Instead, Alex seemed determined to ignore
Mary and everyone else around her.
"Leave me alone." Alex said as she walked
towards her clinic, distress in every step she took.
"Alex, please stop." Mary implored, knowing
how hurtful it was to hear all those awful things said by those insipid
collection of troublemakers.
"Is everybody talking about this?" Alex
stopped long enough to ask of Mary. Her face was almost pale through her dusky
colouring. Mary had never seen her so bereft of composure and it shook her to
the core.
"I don't know," the pretty blond widow
confessed. "The first I heard of it was in the store just then."
It was the truth but it was not a truth that Alex
could listen to and frankly Mary could not blame her. Alex was an extremely
private person after the very public way she and Ezra had parted company.
Since, she had kept her relationship with Vin on a discreet level and while the
affection between them was obvious, it was no more than to be expected of two
people who were openly courting.
However, Mary was well aware of what vicious rumours
could be spread by people with nothing better to do. In some ways, the smartest
thing Mary Travis had done was to come out in the open about her own relationship
with Chris Larabee for it finally put to rest the innuendos people had been
making for the lack of any real knowledge.
Still, none of that was of any help to Alexandra
Styles who was moving so fast that she was quickly leaving Mary behind as she
continued her journey back home. Mary noticed that not everyone was placing the
doctor under scrutiny and only a few local gossips were taking note of her
distraught state. Alex professed to not caring about her reputation but like
Mary, her livelihood depended on her standing in the community. People thinking
she was a loose woman were going to damage her credibility substantially.
She lost sight of Alex as the young woman rounded the
corner into the street where her home and clinic was situated. Mary was afraid
to leave Alex alone and wondered if fetching Vin was not a bad idea. However,
no sooner than the thought had crossed her mind, Mary realized that would only
succeed in giving those who cared the fuel that would feed the fire of Alex's
supposed indecency. For the moment anyway, there was no need to give the
scandalmonger's of town any more ammunition.
Mary rounded the corner and saw Alex frozen in place a
few paces before the front door to her clinic. The doctor's eyes was fixed on a
point only she could see and only when Mary neared the building and was able to
follow her line of sight, did the widow realize what had captured Alex's
attention so completely. Scrawled in angry red letters across the door of her
clinic and some of the wall was one word.
But it was enough.
W H O R E
The lawmen had spent most of the day on a particularly
notorious piece of land which unfortunately was in the path of a cattle trail
that led to prime grazing land. Ranchers usually tried to avoid taking this
route because of all the rustlers who were known to frequent this area because
of its high canyon walls and good vantage points in which to launch an ambush.
Sometimes, however, the detour could not be afforded and the herd had to be
taken through this dangerous route. On this particular occasion, the rancher in
question had approached the seven to provide escort as he moved his herd across
this perilous terrain.
With the exception of Nathan who was due to return
from the Seminole village today and Ezra who wanted to remain close to town in
case Julia needed him, the whole group had occupied their day on the dusty
trail. They had kept an eye out for rustlers that might be lurking in the
shadows until the herd was safely delivered to its grazing pasture before they
returned to
Vin was supposed to take Alex to supper by the creek
at Nettie's when he decided to stop by the clinic and let her know that he
would come for her after he had a bath because the trail had left him covered
in bull dust and sweat. Although he normally took the stairs at the side of the
building to her kitchen door, Vin would still have to pass by the entrance
taken by most of her patients through the front door. What he saw as he strode
past, made him stop short.
The letters were faded now but there was still
indelible enough to read clearly. Thanks to Mary Travis, Vin no longer had as
an acute a reading problem as he used to when he first arrived in
After reading it, he ran up the stairs without further
hesitation wondering what Alex must be thinking after finding the vicious
message that was clearly meant for her. Her door was unlocked when Vin burst
through and found her seated at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of tea in her
shaking hands. She was clearly distressed but as always, was attempting to hide
it beneath a practiced mask of personal detachment.
"You read it." She said quietly guessing
from the look on his face.
"What happened?" He demanded pulling up a
chair and sitting down. The pain he saw in her eyes forced much of his anger
away and he reached for her trembling hands, enclosing them with his as he
tried to offer comfort.
"They know about us." Alex responded, trying
not to cry. She had spent a better part of the afternoon trying to scrub that
vile mark of her front door which left its stain upon the paint as if someone
had wished to put a branding iron to her skin and found it to be the next best
thing. "They think I'm a whore!"
Vin grimaced as the words passed her lips, knowing
that this was not a simple matter of her reputation, it was her livelihood. If
she could not doctor in
This was too much of a coincidence for Vin to accept.
After what had happened with Lamont and the trouble that Nicholas Serfonteine
was stirring up in
Alex met his gaze. "You think he started these
rumours?" She asked somewhat horrified that anyone could go to such
lengths to destroy her reputation.
"I'd bet on it. Once we run them out of town,
everyone will know that they've been listening to lies by men who got more to
hide than anyone. This will pass Alex," he reassured her with a smile and
a genuine belief that it would indeed happen once Serfonteine had seen his last
of
Alex wanted to believe him and it was difficult not to
when she stared into those perfectly blue eyes that held that belief with such
conviction that it was impossible not to be swept away in it herself. "You
think so?" Alex smiled, unable to feel better that he was here and telling
herself firmly that she did not regret any of it. She loved him and everything
that he was, there was no shame in that, no matter what people might say.
"Now, you got any paint around here?" He
asked.
"Some." Alex answered, remembering the half
full tin she had in the basement of the building. "Why?"
"I thought I might do some painting on your front
door." He replied with a warm smile as he held her hand to his lip and
showered it with a small kiss.
"That would be good." Alex said brightening
up a bit. "Although, people might talk about what you're doing there.
After all, its not like there's any formal understanding between us
anything."
Vin looked at her strangely and then asked in a
quieter voice. "Would you like there to be?" Until now, they had
never really discussed what this thing was between them. Obviously, they were
in love and having an affair but no formal declaration had been made and
perhaps it was the ambiguous nature of their relationship had been partially
responsible for this.
"I don't know Vin," Alex sighed, uncertain
of whether she wanted things to change between them now that she was faced with
the possibility. As much as she wanted to believe that he was right, that
things would change once Nicholas Serfonteine was banished from
A future that might not involve
"You should have just let me shoot him."
Nathan Jackson declared as he sat inside the jailhouse, still seething in rage
over what Nicholas Serfonteine had done to him. He should have guessed that
Rosken would only be compelled to evict him if he had been offered a great deal
of money by someone who liked nothing better than to use his affluence to
inconvenience Nathan as much as possible.
Chris Larabee sighed, knowing that there was little he
could say that would pacify Nathan at this point. In truth, he could not blame
the healer's sense of outrage. Driving a man from his home was no easy thing to
swallow and Chris could not be so certain that he would not be similarly
infuriated if someone had done the same thing to him. Still, empathizing with
Nathan's situation certainly did not help it. "We'll think of something,
Nathan. I promise." Chris tried to sound reassuring but knew that was not
one of his best qualities.
"I can't believe Mr. Rosken would do such at
thing." Mary exclaimed, in almost as much shock as when Nathan had
received the news and the discovery that he was being evicted on the account of
Nicholas Serfonteine.
The pretty widow sat at the edge of the desk, next to
Chris' chair shaking her head in disbelief. It was Mary who had acquired Nathan
the premises to begin with; realizing how unlikely it was that
"Every man has a price." Buck frowned,
unhappy that Nathan would be treated in such a way after all the help he had
given this town before Alexandra Styles had arrived. Buck could not even count
the number of times Nathan had gone off to fix someone's broken leg or help
some trouble child into the world. How could people's memory be so short as to
forget all that good work just because one varmint creeps into town and starts
stirring up old prejudices that should have been wiped out with the last war.
"I guess we know what Rosken's is."
"I say we go down there and beat the crap out of
him." J.D. said heatedly, seriously offended that anyone could treat
someone he admired so greatly so reprehensible. "We ought to pound him
silly until he gives that Serfonteine his money back and let's Nathan
stay."
The older people in the room, smiled faintly at their
younger counterpart's enthusiasm and while they could not do what he asked,
every one of them shared his sentiments. "It's a nice idea J.D.,"
Josiah smiled. "But that ain't the way to beat this thing."
"No," Chris shook his head in agreement.
"There's only one way to stop men like Serfonteine and that's to bring him
out into the open."
"Yep," Josiah answered. "Men like these
use the shadows to do their dirty work. Hiding makes them feel safe to do
whatever it is they do without worrying about who is going to point the finger.
Even when they don't wear masks, they're still hiding behind the law or
carefully placed words that don't stand up too much under scrutiny. To stop
them, we're going to have to find out who they are."
"That's where you come in J.D." Chris
responded. "You've got to get Serfonteine's sister to talk to you about
who he's seeing around town because sure as hell he's recruited by now."
"Yeah boy," Buck teased. "You're going
to have to turn on that charm double."
"Buck." Chris glared at him and stopped his
old friend from antagonizing J.D. because what they were discussing was
serious. "I mean it J.D., you've got to make her talk to you. You need to
find out who in town that Serfonteine thinks enough to see more than once. I'll
stake my life that he's already got people joining his little group. We need to
know who they are and expose them."
"You can convict a man on his beliefs."
Nathan pointed out.
"That is true," Ezra spoke for the first
time. "However, riding around in the night and hurting people is a
coward's game and no one likes a coward, especially in the Territory. It is one
thing to say the things you say and do about someone. Unfortunately, it is not
so easy if they know you are saying it and you have to look them in the eye every
day with that the knowledge. Then it becomes harder to live with. Expose these
Klansmen to their neighbours and to the town and you will find that the
membership for the local chapter will drop significantly."
"Well we need to do something." Mary retorted.
"They're crucifying Alex's reputation with the rumours they've
started."
"I know," Buck grumbled. He had almost gone
to blows with the talk he had been hearing from some men across town about
Alexandra Styles. At the moment, she was considered little better than a harlot
and with the same disregard that Mr. Rosken had given Nathan, Alex was being
similarly vilified and all her works in town since her arrival was blatantly
ignored. "I don't know what's more sickening to hear; that she's a harlot
because she's sleeping with Vin or the fact that she might produce babies with
a white man."
Chris' jaw tightened at that remark and said quietly.
"That's has definitely got Serfonteine's hands all over it."
"I would say it's a little homage to his buddy
Lamont after Vin almost kicked his teeth out." Buck added.
"He's doing it because of me." Nathan said
quietly and immediately captured everyone's attention with disbelief.
"That's not true." Josiah replied
automatically. "He's doing it because Alex is a doctor and she's not
white. It's a purely racial thing. That's why Lamont went after her. If there's
any non-white in the community who is in higher standing than you, its Alex.
Its just strategy."
However, Nathan would hear nothing about it. He knew
better and he understood why Serfonteine had targeted Alex in particular. It
might have something to do with her altercation with Lamont and it might have
something to do with how Vin Tanner had defended her. It was even possible in
an abstract way, it could be conceived that her standing in the community had
something to do with this, but Nathan knew better. Serfonteine wanted to take
away the only other woman in his life he had loved like Rebecca.
"He's doing it because he knows she reminds me of
Becky." Nathan uttered a small laugh devoid of any humour. "First
time I met her, she reminded me so much of my sister, I just couldn't help
feeling something for her. Don't get me wrong, I don't love Miss Alex the way I
feel for Rain but Miss Alex always had this special place in my heart cause she
was so much like Becky used to be. Serfonteine has been asking around and he
knew what me and Becky was like before so he guessed that's how things are with
Miss Alex too."
"Bastard." Buck found himself saying. He
knew exactly how Nathan was feeling. Wasn't that what Victoria Kendall had done
to him by orchestrating the kidnapping and rape of Inez all those months ago?
The woman had known that he had lost
"It's a good thing that Vin is with her."
Josiah stated. After Nathan's statement and how Lamont had come after Alex in
broad daylight and now with her reputation all but destroyed, there was no
telling what else Serfonteine had in mind for Alexandra Styles.
"That does not help Alex's situation." Mary
pointed out. "How can you expect her to hide away and let this just happen
to her, waiting for you seven to protect her? There are some awful things being
said about her and we know that even if Serfonteine leaves town, its not going
to change. You should have heard some of the townsfolk talking about her."
"Alex is a fighter." Ezra declared. "She
is far too strong to be intimidated by waving tongues and I believe once we
expose Mr. Serfonteine for the villain he is, those who were so quick to accept
intelligence from him may be forced into re-examination once that
happens."
"I hope you are right." Mary replied,
unhappy by what lay ahead for her close friend. "I know what gossip is
like, I've seen it destroy good people and while I may have avoided that
particular minefield, Vin and Alex have a greater hurdle to face then just her
reputation. Serfonteine has brought to full ugly light the possibility of
racial integration. People may find the idea of them having children offensive,
no matter how Christian they may think themselves to be."
"This is so sick!" J.D. said standing up
from his chair and pacing the floor like a child who has been told there was
not going to be any desert following supper. His stomach knotted at the talk of
such things because he had believed Four Corners was beyond such nonsense.
"Let's deal with the problem at hand first,"
Chris quickly spoke up because tempers were starting to get frayed. He himself
wanted to go with J.D.'s suggestion about beating the crap out of this
bastards, he wanted to pound them into lumps of bloody flesh until such
dangerous rhetoric was driven completely from Four Corners. This was the world
that Mary had wanted to bring Billy into and he could see from her face that
she could not do this thing now, not like this. She wanted her son back badly
but not to a place that believed in such evil ideas.
For Mary alone, Chris was willing to kill the entire
Ku Klux Klan and bury their way of life under a ton of earth.
"We're going to stop them." Chris said with
a confidence he did not feel. "Sooner or later, they'll overplay their
hand, they always do."
Unfortunately, nobody wanted to know what more could
go wrong.
Night descended over the town of Four Corners like a
damp, mist moving over the moors of some bad Gothic novel. It crept through the
empty streets, snaked through the meandering alleys and drifted into homes,
ever unseen yet always expected. Tonight, the dark and the cold seemed thicker
somehow, as if there was something carried in the moist air and the feeling of
dread permeated the atmosphere of the town like the harbinger of something terrible
awaiting emergence in the blackness.
It was at its most silent, when even the saloon's
usual noise and bustle had died down to a few drunken stragglers on the verge
of being ejected from the premises that the slight rumble of hooves could be
heard against the dirt ground. The town was asleep and so the midnight riders
were unseen as they thundered into the heart of town, their white robes flowing
behind them. Anyone who witnessed the arrival might think Four Corners was
being intruded upon by a collection of ghosts escaping from some ethereal plane
of which they had no understanding.
The riders came into the centre of town; all armed
with torches that created orange streaks against the canvas of the scenery.
They converged in the centre of Four Corners, across the street from Gloria
Potter's store and the Clarion News. Lingering for a moment as their principals
barked orders among themselves, while their horses stamped their hooves beneath
them in impatience, the group soon divided themselves into smaller numbers.
The main group thundered towards the Standish Saloon,
only a few hundred yards away from where they had chosen to confer. At this
time of night, the establishment would be seeing off most of its last customers
for those who had chosen to move against the place had done their research
well. There was no need to kill just yet. That strategy would be utilized soon
enough, however for the moment the purpose was not to injure but to warn.
Inez heard riders outside in the street and paid
little attention to the noise.
She was far more interested in helping the last two
customers presently passed out on the floor of the saloon, onto their feet and
into the rooms above the bar. There was no way that either man could attempt to
ride home in the present state of inebriation and knew they were more than
capable of affording lodging for the evening. Both were regulars she had seen
from time to time and other than an overindulgence of drink were mostly
harmless.
"Come on Senor," Inez puffed as she pulled
one of the men from under the table. "You need to rest up to pay the bill
tomorrow." She groaned as she heaved his large bulk from where he had
passed out. Her customer was in such a complete state of intoxication that he
did nothing but mutter incoherently as she dragged him across the wooden floor,
his body creating a trail of dust and cigar butts.
Suddenly the horses she had given deemed
inconsequential at the time, seemed to be right outside the door. She could
hear their hooves stamping against the floor boards of the side walk outside
and looked up to see shadows moving past the bat wing doors.
"What the hell. ." She started to say when
suddenly something smashed through the window with such abruptness that she
lost her grip on the drunk and fell backwards in shock. The wooden torch moved
clumsily through the air after making its dramatic entry through the window,
trailing glass and broken wood in its wake. It landed on a table that was already
wet with liquor spilt and immediately set the piece of furniture on fire. Inez
had barely time to breathe when a second torch made a similarly noisy arrival,
sailing over the front doors to land next to a wooden beam.
"Madre mois!" Inez exclaimed as she yanked
off her apron and started beating out the flames that had nearly engulfed the
table. Flames were moving down its four legs, setting alight the litter hay and
other flammable material, using these to reach the chairs surrounding it. The
alcohol on the table gave the fire sufficient fuel to gain momentum until
Inez's attempts to kill the flames became more than she can handle.
She heard a gust of heat behind her and spun around to
see the wooden beam almost completely ignited in an amber glow that cast
flickering shadows across the saloon. She heard the dull thud of something
landing on the awning outside and something else. Instinctively, she ran out of
the door into the night air to see what it was and call for help because it was
starting to become evident to her that she would soon need it.
As she burst through the swinging doors, she stopped
abruptly at what lay waiting for her when she did emerge. Her jaw went slack
with a mixture of horror and confusion at what these four men were supposed to
be. They wore their white robes and their pointed hats, looking like wraiths
against the black of night. They sat on their horses watching the destruction
they had wrought, with guns in their hands.
Inez had no idea what to make of them but could feel
the sinister intent in the way they regarded her. In the distance she could
hear breaking glass that did not come from the saloon and the sound of men and
horses moving through the streets. Suddenly, it occurred to her that these
white robed strangers were not alone. Whatever havoc they were attempting to
create, they were not confining their activities solely to the saloon.
"Who are you?" Inez demanded, unable to keep
herself from asking as her fury started to escalate at this cowardly attack.
"Why have you done this?" She rushed out on to the street, glancing
over her shoulder long enough to see that it was another torch that they had
thrown on the awning and the fire was quick to spread over the breadth of the
canopy. There was no time to deal with these men, she had to get help and
quickly before the entire saloon was razed to the ground.
"FIRE!" Inez screamed at the top of her
voice. "FIRE!"
"Shut up you Spic bitch!" One of the men
rode over to Inez as she continued to call for help, having deemed these riders
a secondary importance. He kicked out one foot which struck Inez in the chest
and sent her to the ground. As she hit the dirt, she could hear them laughing.
"Tell you and the rest of your kind that they
ain't wanted around here no more! Four Corners is for decent folk, not for scum
from south of the border." He shouted and as if to make his point clearer,
he aimed the double barrel shotgun he was carrying in her direction.
Inez felt her heart stop as she stared down the barrel
of the weapon and saw him pull the trigger. She clamped her eyes shut and
waited for death as she looked up at the unwavering direction of the gun. She
was not going to beg for mercy, especially from the likes of him who would not
grant it anyway, if she was to die, she would do so with her dignity intact.
The explosion of sound from the gun tore through the air made Inez
instinctively cover her head with arms but the bullet did not find its mark on
her person, instead she was pelted with uprooted dirt and soil as the ground he
had fired upon.
"Remember!" He hissed again. "Or the
next time won't be a warning shot!"
"Come on!" She heard another one shout and
noticed that Four Corners were coming alive with townsfolk waking up from their
beds, lights were appearing in windows and excited voices could be heard in
front and behind her. Some of them were coming from the saloon itself, where
the working girls and their customers were soon discovering that the building
in which they were enjoying such rapture was burning down around them. The
other shouts came from the rest of Four Corners, from townspeople who had
emerged to investigate and seen the danger. Nothing inspired greater fear in
any community than the word 'fire'.
In any case, the men who had created such destruction
had no intention of remaining to see the chaos that ensured their handiwork. No
sooner than one of them had made the call to withdraw, the white garbed
collection of wraith like riders dug their heels into their mounts and rode
away into the night, like specters disappearing into the mist. Inez watched
them go, feeling no confidence to turn her back on them until she was sure they
were well and truly gone, unable to deny the chill that run down her spine at
the sight of these men. This was just a warning for her and her kind. What were
they capable of when they truly wished to harm someone?
It was a question she rather not delve into too deeply
and in honesty there was no time for it. Inez spun around and ran back up the
stairs into the saloon, even though the awning was burning out of control and
the covering above the boardwalk was now a canopy of flames. There were still
people inside the saloon and with a great deal of effort, perhaps they could
save the saloon before it burned completely to the ground. The fire was not out
of control yet, it almost was but there was still time.
"Inez!" Buck Wilmington exclaimed, as he
stood at the foot of the steps, ushering a number of working girls out of the
establishment. Most of them were barely clad but were decent enough not to
offend as they ran frantically down the stairs, emerging from their rooms.
"Are you okay darling?" He asked as he left the stairs and ran to
meet her in the middle of the room. "I thought I heard gunshots." He
was clearly relieved to see that she was safe.
"You did," she nodded quickly, "but I'm
okay. Can you help me with these two men? They're out cold."
She referred to the two drunks she had been attempting
to help to bed when so abruptly interrupted. They were still lying on the
floor, drunk to the world with no idea that around them, they were sleeping
their way to a fiery death.
"Jesus!" Buck said shocked. He had been so
busy evacuating people from the upper floors that he had not seen them at all.
He dreaded to think what would have happened if Inez had not told him. .
Without another word, Buck ran forward and grabbed the
first man on the floor, he was lying under a table that was ignited and was
about to collapse on his face. Carefully, Buck pulled the man from under as the
flames in the room seemed to get higher and the smoke was no longer something
that exerted its presence merely by smell, but by sight. Thick clouds of grey
drifted through the room as Buck hauled the man up to his feet and dragged him
towards the door.
Inez went for the second man who was leaning against
the counter, the top of which was covered in flames. The surface of it which
had been weathered alcohol seeping into the grain of the wood burned easily
with the substance as a fuel.
The fire ran across the counter, into the narrow
passageway where Inez moved from one end to the other and was snaking up the
bottles of liquor behind it.
"Inez!" J.D. Dunne burst through the batwing
doors and searched through the cackling of flames and the thickening smoke to
find her. The young man had just run into Buck who had ordered him to come in
and help Inez with the second man as Buck tended to the first. The smoke's
effect on J.D. was immediate and he started to cough a little. Like the rest of
the town, he had heard the commotion and his first thought was to reach the
saloon where Inez and Buck would still be.
"I'm here J.D.!" Inez cried out as she tried
to pull the drunk she was trying to save to his feet. Unfortunately, she did
not possess Buck's strength and so the endeavour was proving to be harder than
she envisioned. It did not matter before because she had the time to slowly
help him upstairs but now with a virtual wall of flames forming before her, she
was starting to panic as any creature would panic in the face of such an old
enemy.
"I'm coming!" J.D. called out as he waved
the smoke out of his face in a futile gesture. He could feel its harsh fumes
stinging his lungs as he tried hard not to breathe it in. Relatively small in
frame, J.D. was nonetheless spry and in seconds he was next to the bartender
and helping her with the man who was too drunk too know how close he was to
dying. Suddenly, an explosion of glass erupted behind them, sending shards in
all directions. Inez squealed and covered her eyes, while J.D.'s heavy jacket
protected him from most of the spray of glass and liquid.
"It's the liquor!" Inez declared as the
bottles of alcohol on the shelves had been superheated to such temperatures
that they could no longer be contained in their glass receptacles. The fire
that had enveloped the shelves were bubbling the fluid within the bottles to
critical mass and the explosions that they created were only sending more fuel
into an already raging fire.
As she spoke, another bottle exploded and another,
until they were deafened by the sound of breaking glass that was creating new
tendrils of flames to start where there had been none before. Inez and J.D. did
not stay around to see the entire liquor collection do their worst and quickly
made an exit. Hurrying out the door while coughing so hard because the smoke
had made it impossible to see through the tears of their stinging eyes, Inez
heard the heaving of something that was not the roar of flames of exploding
bottles. Looking behind her, she saw the saloon whom she and Ezra worked so
hard into success being destroyed systematically as fires completely engulfed
the room. The heaving sound she heard came from the stairs and as she observed
fires in every crack of wood in the structure, she knew that its support structure
was burned away.
No sooner than that thought had crossed her mind, the
entire stairway collapsed spectacularly. Flames forced forward by the
displacement of air at the impact expanded outwards as sparks and embers fly in
all directions. J.D. and Inez ran out of the doors at the moment, deciding they
would not remain to see what the building would do for an encore. In the final
moment as they were about to slip through the doors, Inez hoped that no one
else was in the building for with the stairs gone, they would be trapped in the
upper floors.
"Inez! J.D. are you all right?" This came
from Ezra who had just arrived.
"Where have you been?" Inez demanded,
wondering why he had not been here sooner. This was his saloon too and even
though he did not lodge here, he should have been here sooner than this. Ezra
was half-dressed, seeming not at all like Ezra without his jacket and hat, even
though he still wore his customary waistcoat.
"This is not the only place on fire tonight,
Inez." Ezra said quietly as his eyes fixed on the flaming building before.
"The entire town in mobilized to fight a war. There are at least four
other places in town currently battling the same condition as our saloon
here."
"What!" J.D. exclaimed in horror because
Inez was too dumbstruck to speak. Now she understood why there were so few
people gathered outside the saloon trying to form the water brigade that
included Buck and Vin.
"At this moment, Chris Larabee is battling a fire
at the Will Jefferson's place." Ezra informed dutifully as he took the arm
of the man Inez was propping up and continued to the space where Nathan Jackson
was presently examining people for smoke inhalation.
"The blacksmith?" J.D. asked, remembering
Will Jefferson from the number of times he had need his horse shoed. It was
hard not to remember an almost seven foot tall black man who made one feel like
a dwarf. Jefferson always had a wide smile for him and called him Mister Dunne,
even though J.D. pleaded with him to just call him J.D.
"No Sir, you're the Sheriff and I reckon you be
needing all the respect you can get."
"Is he alright?" J.D. was almost afraid to
ask as Jefferson's familiar words rung in his ears.
"He's fine," Ezra said grimly as they
reached Nathan. "He managed to get his family out of the house before the
fire spread too quickly but I am afraid his establishment took the brunt of
this inferno."
"He taken in a lot of smoke." Nathan
declared of his patients as he put down his stethoscope and regarded the next
patient that they were bringing him. The man he regarded was still very much
unconscious but the ragged breathing they heard for coming from him seemed to
prove Nathan's prognosis that the man was probably suffering the effects of
smoke inhalation. "Since I don't got no infirmary any more, we're going to
have to move him to Miss Alex's."
"This man was lying next to the fire for a long
time Nathan," Inez replied as Ezra and J.D. set the man down. "I do
not like how he breathes."
Nathan nodded and quickly started unbuttoning the
man's collar and shirt, to get at his chest unencumbered by fabric. The healer
worked deftly with the three of them watching in mild fascination as Nathan
made a quick check of the man's breathing passages. The man's breathing was
laboured, almost as if he was an eighty-year-old wheezing for his next lung
full of air.
After a moment, Nathan looked up and found himself
agreeing with Inez's. "You're right ma'am," he nodded. "This
one's taken a lot of smoke and I don't think enough air is getting to his
brain. We need to move him right now. J.D., you best help me." Nathan
instructed. "I reckon the rest of you will be needed here to deal with
this fire. The one at James Freeman's is out of control and it's almost razed
completely."
"Not Jimmy Freeman's too!" This was getting
too much for J.D. Unlike most people in Four Corners, who sometimes felt it
inappropriate for the black and white community to become too personally
involved, J.D. did not believe in such conventions. In his opinion, Nathan was
the standard by which he judged all black people, even though he thought to
himself, he should not be doing that at all either but he did know Jimmy
Freeman who was the local carpenter. They had gotten to know Jimmy when the man
was building some shelves for Mary Travis since Chris confessed to being lousy
at that particular chore. Jimmy was a nice man whose wife Bernadette owned a
bakery that had the nicest pies, according to Alexandra Styles who could not
cook to save her life.
"They're attacking all the black people."
Inez declared.
"Unfortunately yes," Ezra nodded, since it
was pretty damn evident now.
"I knew this was going to happen," Nathan
said in a quiet voice. "The moment Serfonteine came to town, I knew this
was going to happen." Nathan wished more than anything now that he had
killed the man even if reason told him that it was wrong. After everything that
had happened today, Nathan's previous calm had fled him and he wanted his
revenge so badly he could taste it.
"Take it easy Mr. Jackson." Ezra warned.
"The situation requires a healer at this moment, not a vigilante. As much
as I hate to admit this, we have no proof that Serfonteine was responsible for
this. Now you have a patient, I say deal with him first and leave Serfonteine and
his bunch of arsonists for the moment."
"You're right." Nathan said being filled
with renewed vigor now that he had been reminded that his true calling was not
that of a murderer. "Come on J.D., help me him." He replied as J.D.
stepped forward to assist Nathan with the patient that was lying on the dirt,
with his chest exposed and his breathing sounding even more thready than ever
"We'll take him to Miss Alex's, I think she has a respirator there."
Ezra and Inez watched Nathan and J.D. disappear into the
night towards the direction of Alex's clinic when Ezra remarked still staring
at Nathan. "He wants Serfonteine so badly, he can taste it."
"Can you blame him?" Inez returned.
"There are some things that cannot be forgiven Ezra, not for
anything."
"I know that." Ezra sighed, turning away and
meeting her gaze. "But there comes a time when a man has to decide whether
his pride is more important or the future of his life."
He was not prone to such philosophical mutterings and
Inez wondered if his own troubles with Julia lately had been the cause of such
soul searching.
"Ezra I saw them." She responded, wishing in
part to tell him what she knew and also to move him from such melancholy
thoughts for the moment.
His eyes widened. "Let me guess, they were in
white robes?"
Now it was Inez's turn to be surprised.
"Yes!" She exclaimed in shock. "How did you know?"
"
"It doesn't sound much better." Inez
deadpanned.
"Ezra, Inez," Buck stepped forward from the
long chain that was formed between the saloon and the nearest water pump.
"We're gonna need all the help we can get if we're going to save the
saloon."
Inez and Ezra turned their attention to what Buck had
been up to since depositing the drunk at Nathan's feet earlier. The tall man
had organized people into a chain that led as close to the fire as possible
without endangering the lives of the firefighters. Buckets were being passed
along as those assembled struggled to contain the fire. Among the number
present, Ezra could see Vin Tanner and concluded, Josiah must be helping Chris
Larabee with the fires on the other side of town. Buck had even enlisted the
working girls he had pulled out of the burning building to join in the battle.
At the moment, the ladies were attacking the fire with blankets, attempting to
stave out the flames that were to far from the main chain.
Ezra looked at the bodies working to save his saloon
and felt somewhat overwhelmed by the sight of all those people trying to help
for no good reason other than they were needed. It touched the core of him that
such solidarity existed in the same world where men wore white robes and felt
the need to spread so much hate in a twisted litany of racial impurity.
Unfortunately, the appearance of the ghouls tonight
was just a preview of things to come. Without knowing how he knew, Ezra was
confident that things were about to get a great deal bloodier before any end
was in sight.
God help him, he was going to get just as dirty to
bring that about.
Nathan and J.D. arrived at Alexandra Styles' clinic
and noticed that the entrance to the clinic was wide open. The vile letters
that Mary Travis had described to them earlier were still etched from on the
wood; despite Alex's bests attempts to eradicate its stain from her home.
Nathan's stomach hollowed seeing those words and knew that the only reason this
was here was because Serfonteine was somehow responsible for promoting the
rumours that branded Miss Alex a wanton. He also knew that Serfonteine had been
asking questions, gathering all sorts of information. He had struck at Alex
because he knew how much she meant to Nathan.
"Those bastards." J.D. found himself
swearing with uncharacteristic venom as they came upon the door.
"Yeah," Nathan agreed with a slight nod but
he was more interested in the door that was wide open. It was conceivable that
Miss Alex had forgotten to lock it and was probably out and about in town at
this moment, rendering aid the way only healers with the calling could do when
people were in need of it. "They're just trying to get to us." Nathan
responded and did not add that this was more directed at him then anyone else. He
supposed however, that it could be true that Lamont wanted revenge after Vin
had put him through a glass window and broken the nose and that now 'not so
pretty' face.
"It's working." J.D. grumbled, wishing he
had more progress with Serfonteine's sister. Violet had successfully manage to
hide their liaison from her brother, which was just as well for he did not need
to know that she might be a source of information to his enemies. Still, Violet
was starting to talk more and more about her brother's dealings and J.D. did
not think it would be very long before she started talking about his Klan
affiliations. Chris was more interested in the membership of the group in Four
Corners more than anything else. Since Nicholas had visited almost every white
person in town about the Klan, it was difficult to pin who might be a member or
not.
Chris believed that the key to unraveling the entire
movement was unmasking these men who preferred to ride in the night, committing
all kinds of heinous crimes with impunity mainly because their identities kept
them safe. If it were not so, if they were made to face their victims unmasked
and exposed, Chris believed they would fade away into the night, like
cockroaches scurrying in the light. Even Nathan had been forced to agree with
this assessment and once again, J.D. was reminded why Chris Larabee was their
leader.
The two men stepped into the open door of the clinic
with their patient and immediately made their way in the darkness to the
clinic's infirmary. In the same bed that Julia Pemberton had occupied a week
ago, Nathan set down the man. While Nathan settled his patient into bed and
started looking for the lamp to illuminate the room, J.D. noticed something.
It was quiet.
Not merely silence as if no one was speaking but the
kind of quiet that seemed sinister in the light of the darkness that pervaded
this room. "Nathan," J.D. asked as he went up the stairs, feeling the
floorboards creak as he made his way into the home where Alex Styles resided
whenever she was not healing.
"What?" Nathan asked as he finally got some
light into the room when the lamp under his ministrations started to burn
brightly, illuminating things with an amber glow.
"Have you seen Miss Styles anywhere?" J.D.
asked as he disappeared up the staircase.
The question made Nathan pause immediately. Suddenly,
his heart began to fill with dread and he left his patient without second
thought and ran up the stairs in pursuit of J.D., who was investigating
upstairs. The kid was right, he had not seen Alex at all. He had assumed that
she would be where Chris was but then Vin had said nothing about it and so
Nathan's mind began to see more terrible possibilities.
When he reached the top of the stairs, the signs of
violence could clearly be seen. Alex had given whomever had intruded her home a
good fight. The broken furniture and upturned table was certainly evidence of
that. A curtain rail hung precariously, where it had been snapped in two and
the hallway mirror was smashed to pieces.
J.D. met his gaze and could only say in hushed tones.
"Nathan, Alex is gone."