Chapter Nineteen
Kent glanced up at the clock. By all rights, Portia should’ve been home an hour ago. He didn’t want to start worrying just in case she’d stopped by to visit Rhine before coming home. Thirty minutes later and still no Portia, so he saddled up Blue and rode over to the hotel.
Rhine and Eddy were eating dinner.
“Evening, Kent,” Eddy said. “What brings you by?”
“Was hoping Portia was here.”
Rhine shook his head. “No,”
Kent swallowed his worry. “She was taking the last train from Flagstaff. I wonder if it got held up for some reason?”
“That line is pretty dependable.”
Eddy asked, “Do you think she and Arizona ran into trouble?”
“I don’t know but something’s not right. I can feel it. I’m going to ride into Tucson and see if the train came in or not. Maybe I’ll run into her on the way.”
Rhine asked, “Do you want me to go with you?”
“No—”
The bell rang and Kent sighed with relief. “Maybe that’s her now.”
But it was Sheriff O’Hara. “Oh good, Kent, you’re here. This was delivered to my office earlier this evening.”
Kent was confused.
“You need to read it.”
And what he read filled him with equal parts anguish and rage.
Rhine asked, “What’s it say?”
“Someone has Portia. They want ten thousand dollars in the next thirty-six hours or they’ll kill her.”
“Where’s the money supposed to be taken?” Rhine asked.
“Wired to the account of a John Brown in Boston.” Kent looked up at the sheriff. “You said it was delivered? By who?”
“I don’t know. I have a mailbox out in front of my office for mail and wires from the telegraph office, and it was in there. Checked it last around four this afternoon and there was nothing inside. Left the office to take care of some things, had dinner with my wife, and when I returned I checked again and that was in there. It was addressed to you, which I thought odd, so I opened it.”
Kent was glad he had. “Do you know if the train from Flagstaff got in on time?”
“Haven’t heard that it didn’t. Why?”
“She was due back on it this evening.”
“The conductor lives in town. How about you ride back with me and see if he remembers her or saw anything.”
“Good idea. I also want to check with the livery to see if she picked up her horse.”
“I’ll go with you,” Rhine said. “Eddy will you be okay here?”
“Yes. Go on. Find her please.”
Kent’s fear hadn’t lessened, but his rising fury was keeping him from being consumed by it. How dare someone do this to her? But he would find her even if he had to ride into hell to do so, and when he got her back, someone was going to die.