Chapter 18 #2
She’d give anything to feel her father’s arms around her once more.
To lie on a blanket and tell stories under the stars.
Monty had told her not to repeat what she’d heard regarding Colonel Unger’s refusal to cut the screens on the spillway, wanting her to let him handle the matter.
Every time they were together, however, he would deflect the conversation.
She suspected his course of action was putting it off long enough for the prosecutors to handle the evidence.
But what if the prosecutors didn’t know about the spillway? What if the information they had wasn’t enough evidence to convict? Annamae would go crazy knowing corruption had won.
She peeked through the cracked glass on the shack’s door. She didn’t know how some of the sturdiest buildings in town had collapsed and this one had survived. Through the grime, shadows rushed about, preparing for the evening editions she presumed.
“You going in, ma’am?”
Annamae pivoted toward the boyish voice beside her.
“If not, I need ’round ya, please.”
“Are you an aspiring reporter?” Annamae smiled.
“No, ma’am. They’re paying me a dollar a day to run their messages to the telegraph office and to other folks ’round town if they need. You see now, that’s why I need ’round ya if you’re not going in.”
She stepped out of the way. “My apologies, good sir.”
The boy, who couldn’t be older than nine, burst through the door, leaving it wide open.
Men in shirts with their sleeves rolled to their elbows sat behind typewriters, clicking keys and puffing on cigars.
Others scribbled on paper or passed notes to the tiny couriers who nearly knocked her out of the way to do their bidding.
A few men napped in chairs, their boots resting on their desk.
A handsome gentleman with a stylish mustache sat at the front desk. He glanced up from his mug of coffee then quickly set it down. “How can I help you, miss?”
He stood.
She wasn’t sure. When had she walked inside?
“Um … I was looking for something.”
One side of his mouth curled in a roguish grin, and he circled the desk. “My name’s Colt. I’d like to say you found it, but you’ll have to give me more details than that.”
He was flirting. Brazenly, she might add. “Forgive me, but I was searching for information regarding a person.”
His face grew sober. “Have you checked the casualty list compiled by the Ladies Committee of Johnstown? They update the list daily at the Second Presbyterian Church on Vine Street.”
“Oh no, I’m not missing anyone. I’m here working as a volunteer. I’m searching for information on a Colonel Elias J. Unger.”
Surprise lifted his features. “Colonel Unger.” He crossed his arms and ankles and leaned against the wall. “What information were you hoping to find?”
His brown eyes were eagle sharp, and she squirmed, feeling as if he could see into her mind and read her thoughts.
“Are these past editions?” She pointed to a window seat piled two feet high with newspapers.
“Every single one since we arrived in Johnstown. If you’ll tell me what you’re hoping to know about the colonel, I can assist you in finding which paper it would be in.”
Monty’s warning blared through her brain. Those men aren’t the kind to trifle with, Annamae.
She smiled coyly and fluttered her lashes the way she’d done as a child when wanting to appear innocent. “I don’t know what I’m looking for, as I’ve never met the colonel. I simply wished to know more about his dealings in Johnstown before the flood so I might better assist with my work here.”
The work she put in against the club members, of course, not her nursing. Sunlight poured in through the window. Small strips of wood divided the large rectangle into sections, but the glass was absent. Dust motes danced in the beam that yellowed the pages.
“Where are you volunteering?” The thin vertical stripes on Colt’s shirt matched the hue of his brown suspenders.
She shuffled through papers. “I aid in helping others feel their best.”
“Then you work for the Red Cross?”
Shocked, she turned to him. Her twirling skirt almost knocked the papers onto the floor.
He chuckled. “Your brassard gave you away.”
She frowned at her arm where his finger pointed. Embarrassment flamed her face. She had worn the white strip of fabric with the red cross around her arm so often, she forgot it was there most times.
Grinning, Colt leaned down until he was eye level with her. “Why does a pretty lady like you think information on Colonel Unger would help to better serve patients?”
Annamae huffed at his probing. “My reasons are my own. Do you have any information regarding Colonel Unger and the ongoing South Fork Dam investigations or not?”
He blinked at her change of tone and stood to full height.
“To my knowledge, no reporter has printed anything specific regarding Colonel Unger and any potential role in the dam’s collapse, if that’s what you’re asking.
However, I’d like to take a stroll with you if you have any theories or information regarding such.
The Pittsburgh Post is loyal to their readers in relaying the truth and would be glad to be the first to print such news should it prove valid. ”
Should she tell him? He was young and handsome and charming but also had an air of coarseness about him that made her apprehensive. Monty had asked her to trust him, and she’d promised him she would.
“I’ve nothing to share. I heard a story about him that made me curious to learn about his time during the war and his role in Johnstown.”
His shoulders shook as his lips ticked up. How dare he laugh at her?
She moved to leave, but he stayed her by the arm.
“Look, miss,” he whispered, leaning close.
The noise of the typewriters and chatter around them made it hard for her to hear his low tone.
“I’m not sure what you’re up to, but you should know that Colonel Unger never served in the war.
It’s simply an honorary title given him years ago for the way he conducted business as a hotel manager. ”
Colt dug through the papers. She wanted to flee but had a feeling she should hear what else this man had to say.
He lifted an issue, threw it back, then pulled out another.
He passed it to her. “After watching the dam burst before his eyes, helpless to aid anyone in its path, he collapsed. When an angry mob arrived days later, he’d already fled to Pittsburgh. ”
She scanned the front-page headlines until her gaze rested on an article about the mob. His attention focused more sharply on her.
“If there’s something regarding Colonel Unger we’ve left out, please confide in me. The residents of Johnstown, of America, deserve to know what really happened. You can trust me.”
She stared into his coffee-brown eyes. Could she?
Annamae tapped the paper against her open palm. “If someone did know something, how would telling a reporter help the investigation?”
He tilted his head back. His sharp gaze softened in a knowing gleam.
“It isn’t just the folks of Johnstown that are livid about the dam’s collapse.
The entire country is. All of us want closure.
If it’s an act of God, fine. But new details are emerging every day that verify the club members are responsible for this disaster, and we all deserve the truth. ”
Truth. Yes.
She wanted so badly to spill what she knew, but she’d promised Monty that she’d trust him to relay the information in his own way. Revealing what she knew to this reporter would make her truth a lie.
“I pray the courts will discover all truth and that justice will be served hard and swiftly.” She passed the paper back to Colt. “Thank you. I’ll keep my ears open for anything of interest.”