29. Twenty-Nine
How long before the doctor arrived? Frustration boiled in Daniel’s chest. He needed to search for Camilla. The longer they delayed the more they risked irreparable harm befalling her. He checked the mantel clock in his parlor once again and tried to focus. Solomon needed his attention, yet his mind kept running through all he’d learned about Camilla’s disappearance.
She’d gone to get water from the well.
Lula had started barking.
Solomon had run outside and been shot.
A few scuffed leaves and boot prints led to the road where tire marks indicated an automobile. She’d clearly been abducted.
But by who? And why? The men who’d been following them hoping to usurp the treasure if they ever found it? Daniel and Camilla hadn’t found anything new, so that couldn’t be the reason. It had to be something to do with the criminals they’d stumbled upon in the woods.
His blood congealed in his veins. Where would they have gone? There must be thousands of places scoundrels could hide her. And what would they do to a woman alone? The thought curdled his stomach. If they hurt her…
A knock pounded on the door, and he nearly bolted out of his shoes. He hurried past Hattie and into the receiving hall, blowing the tangy scent of blood out of his nostrils.
Dr. Wellburn doffed a hat from a receding gray hairline as Daniel jerked the door on its hinges. The man who’d given his grandfather personal care tucked his fedora under his arm and adjusted his medical bag. “The patient?”
Finn scrambled in behind the doctor as Daniel gestured toward the parlor. “He’s been shot. We’ve compressed the wound to staunch as much of the bleeding as we could.”
The stately physician strode into the room, his polished shoes falling in measured steps across the carpeting. He nodded politely to Hattie. “Step aside, please, ma’am, so I may assess the patient.”
Solomon grunted and hefted his frame into a sitting position, causing his nostrils to flare and his mouth to compress.
“Easy there.” Dr. Wellburn adjusted spectacles on the bridge of his nose and leaned closer. “Tell me what happened.”
“He was shot. That’s what!” Hattie leaned over the doctor’s shoulder, peering at the wad of kitchen towels Stella had provided to stem the bleeding.
Despite the pain he must be in, Solomon gave his mother a flat look. He lifted his right arm to sign something, but winced, and abandoned the effort.
“Solomon speaks in hand gestures.” Daniel met the doctor’s gaze. “According to the others, he heard a commotion outside his mother’s house and ran to see what happened. A man with a gun fired wildly behind him as he was running away. His two friends brought him here, and we sent for you immediately.”
“I see.” The doctor adjusted his spectacles below his gathered brows.
He didn’t ask why they’d brought the man across town to Daniel’s house instead of taking him to the charity hospital. He hadn’t asked them, though funding seemed the simplest explanation.
The doctor plucked a pair of scissors from a leather bag he’d placed next to Solomon’s shoes. The silver shears made quick work of Solomon’s denim shirt, exposing a seeping wound in hard muscles.
Daniel turned away when the doctor started poking around the wound and Solomon’s face contorted.
The doctor’s words brought a rush of relief. “You are very blessed. The bullet missed most of your vitals. It entered beneath the lungs. Appears to be a small caliber lodged against your costal cartilage. The bone is nicked, but once I remove the projectile, you will heal nicely.”
Not wanting to witness the doctor do his work, Daniel stepped out of the parlor and slid the door closed behind him. Since Solomon had care, he could start the search. First, he’d need to go to the law. No sense wandering aimlessly on his own. That wouldn’t do anyone any good.
Finn and Buck waited in the receiving hall, eyes questioning.
“Doctor says he will make a full recovery.”
Buck’s lips moved in what looked like a prayer of thanks, and Finn’s shoulders sagged.
“When Dr. Wellburn finishes his work, please tell him to leave his bill, and I will take care of it in the morning.” Daniel plucked his hat from the rack near the door.
“Are you going to the police to find the captain?” Buck’s mouth tightened around the words, causing lines that aged him past his years.
“Stay here and protect the others, will you?”
With a nod, Buck positioned himself at the base of the stairs while Finn stood guard at the parlor door. Daniel tugged on his hat and stepped out into the hot night.
I’m sorry, Lord. Whatever I have done or not done to bring this trouble upon us, please forgive me. Keep Camilla safe, and don’t let her pay for my mistakes. Please give me wisdom and show me what to do next.
His insides churned as he hurried down the path into town. Every shadow grasped for him with clawing fingers, each rustle of the wind a Klaxon call of danger. With his senses on edge and nightmarish images dancing through his head, he couldn’t dispel the oppressive feeling. The distance stretched before him, never seeming to grow shorter even as he continued to increase his pace.
He finally reached the police station and burst inside. Behind the counter, a young officer in blue leapt to his feet and put a hand to the holster on his hip.
Daniel thrust his empty hands high. “There’s been an abduction, and my friend has been shot. We need immediate help!”
The officer shouted to the men behind him. Two officers entered through a doorway to Daniel’s left. The wider of the two, a man whose face indicated his years of experience, spoke with a deep baritone.
“Your name, sir?”
“Daniel Gray. The man shot is currently at my residence and under the care of a physician. We need to send a search party for Camilla Lockhart immediately.”
The other officer, a man in his midforties with a thick mustache, jotted notes while the first man asked Daniel a series of unnecessary questions about how he knew the victims and his whereabouts during the crime.
“And you were not present for any of these events?” The officer’s forehead folded into tight wrinkles. “Why didn’t one of the witnesses come to make a report?”
Daniel unlocked teeth that tried to clench and forced his tone to remain even. “Solomon needed the other two men to carry him. Then they went for the doctor. His mother is understandably staying with him while the doctor tends his wounds. You need to start looking for Camilla.”
The other officer scribbled notes, his pencil scratching languidly across the page.
“And why send you instead of one of these others who had been present for the shooting?”
Daniel’s fingers curled into his palms. “What does that matter? You can question all of us as much as you want. After we find Camilla!”
A large form stepped up to him seemingly out of thin air, and Daniel startled as he glanced at the imposing form of Detective McCready. He blew a breath out of his nose. “Detective. They have taken Captain Lockhart. I suspect it’s the same men we told you about earlier.”
The Detective shared a look with the other officers. “I’ll handle this.”
The older man hesitated, but the younger closed his notebook and spun on his heel and disappeared behind the partition. The older officer pinched his lips but then followed, leaving Daniel with the detective.
Detective McCready’s piercing gaze settled on him again. “You believe the smugglers abducted Miss Lockhart? And what’s this about a shooting?”
“Camilla went out to get water. Solomon, her engineer, heard a commotion and went outside. He saw a man fleeing who then turned and shot at him. Camilla was gone.”
“And why do you believe the smugglers are involved?”
Tension radiated through his neck and shoulders. “Who else would it be?”
The detective lifted a brow as though to ask the same question of Daniel, but as he had no other explanation, he kept the man’s steady gaze.
After a brief stalemate, the detective volleyed orders over the partition. “Smith, Pollard, and Helsen, gather a team and start questioning Durkin’s men. He’s behind this, and we might have the opportunity to catch him.”
The name slammed into Daniel’s chest and leaked out between his lips. “Durkin?”
McCready’s heavy gaze raked over him. “Kingpin of the operation I believe is responsible.”
Daniel forced words past his dry throat. “My sister… she’s been seeing a man named Durkin.” His stomach dropped. “And that’s the name we heard those men use in the woods.”
Why hadn’t he realized it sooner? He tightened his stomach against the bile churning inside.
McCready’s face clouded, and he called for another officer.
The pieces fell into place. There’d been no coincidences. The members of his family had been entwined with a smuggling ring, and it had gotten his father and brother-in-law killed. Then Captain Paul Lockhart. Now it might cost Camilla her life as well.
“Mr. Gray?” The officer’s clipped tone pulled Daniel from his swirling thoughts. “I need you to come with me.”
He pivoted toward the door. “I’m going to help find Camilla.”
Detective McCready’s meaty hand settled on his shoulder, eyes warm with a compassion that didn’t match the hard lines of his face. “I need you to give the officers every detail you can. That will go the farthest in helping us locate her.”
“But—”
“And then you need to lead them to your sister. For her protection. Under no circumstances is she to contact Mr. Durkin again. Do you understand?”
Heat scorched through his limbs. They were wasting time. “She’s at home. They can question her there. You need me to show you where we found those bootleggers. Maybe that’s where they took Camilla.”
“I know the place.” He squeezed Daniel’s shoulder. “Let us do our job.”
The bile rose to his throat. Every muscle within him strained to run out into the night and tear the town apart until he found her. But what could a disgraced lawyer with no combat or detective skills do? Perhaps there was one thing. Before he could let his usual skeptical tendencies outweigh boldness in faith, he closed his eyes.
“God, please lead these men to Camilla and save her from any harm that might come her way. Give them supernatural insight and, if you are willing, please bring swift justice to those behind these crimes.”
When Daniel reopened his eyes, Detective McCready’s gaze held steel. Then he jerked his chin in a single nod. “Amen.”
Armed with the best protection Daniel could hope for, the bear of a man stalked out the door. Activity erupted behind him, and soon the officers on duty were mounting up a party.
Daniel bowed his head. He’d done all he knew to do. The rest of this mess, like everything else in his life, he’d have to yield to God.