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Jesse gathered up his papers and nodded. “Go on ahead. I’ll catch up with you.”
As Hunter flew down the courthouse steps, he spotted Captain McNeil ahead of him. “Captain!”
The man turned and smiled as Hunter strode toward him, extending his arm.
Taking deep breaths as he came to an abrupt halt in front of the man, Hunter shook his hand and said, “I wonder if you could do me a favor?”
“Sure. Anything you need.” He gestured toward the courthouse. “That whole thing is nuts. You could never murder anyone.”
Hunter squeezed the man’s shoulder. “Thanks for your support. But I need something else from you.”
He began walking and the captain fell in beside him. “What’s that?”
“A very close friend of mine was supposed to be at the courthouse today, but she never showed up. I have reason to believe she’s in trouble.”
McNeil’s eyebrows rose. “She? This wouldn’t happen to be the woman at the center of this entire mess, would it?”
“Yes. The very one. Her husband was the murder victim. I’m seriously concerned that she’s gotten herself into trouble. Right now I feel as though I could use another body with me while I track her down.”
They picked up their pace and jogged to the trolley car that was just coming to a stop across the street. “I think you’d better fill me in, Henderson.”
They climbed aboard and took side-by-side seats. “One question,” Hunter said.
The ranger nodded.
“Do you have your gun on you?”
The captain opened his jacket to reveal a holster strapped under his arm. “Of course.”
It took the rest of the ride for Hunter to fill in the details of what he’d been doing since leaving the Rangers.
“Sounds to me like you’ve jumped in with both feet with this gal.”
Hunter gave him a wry smile. “You might say that. Once this is all cleared up, I intend to ask her to marry me.”
The Ranger whistled. “Never thought I’d hear you say that, Henderson.”
“Finding my father’s killer has been a driving force in my life for years. Now that Smith is dead and I can’t beat him to a pulp myself, I can start thinking about a future. I want that future to be with Emily.”
“If anyone deserves a good life with a decent woman, it’s you. I wish you the best of luck.”
“Thanks. But before we start raising our glasses in a toast, I have to find said decent woman. I feel in my gut that she’s in trouble.”
Chapter 24
Emily checked all the other drawers in the file cabinet as well as the ones in his desk. Completely cleaned out, not even a scrap of paper or a pencil stub.
Blowing out a frustrated breath, she left his office and tried the door to Mr. Sanders’ room. Amazed to find it unlocked, she crept across the floor to his file cabinet, and winced when the drawer screeched as she slid it open, as if someone was close enough to hear.
She took the list from her pocket and began to compare the names on the paper with the folders in the drawer. After pulling out several files, she settled in Mr. Sander’s chair, her foot tucked under her bottom as she flipped through papers.
Dust motes danced in the stream of sunshine coming through the windows while time passed as she pulled more files, and added papers to the stack on the desk. Her list of those who’d invested a great deal of money was growing. She closed the file in her lap and stretched. A glance at her timepiece told her she’d been at this for over two hours.
Court would already be breaking for lunch and Hunter would be wondering where she was. Wouldn’t he be surprised and pleased when she handed over the stack of papers with the damming information?
As she stood to return the latest files to the cabinet, a noise in the outer office stopped her in her tracks. Her heart pounded as footsteps sounded across the outer room, and the door to Mr. Sanders’ office slowly open
ed.
