Chapter Thirty-Two
Sam dropped off Briggs at John Sampson’s sheriff’s office, quickly explaining what had occurred.
John had already heard some of the news, because juicy gossip like that spread like wildfire through town, but learning all the additional information, John made sure to put Briggs behind bars with no way of getting out.
He also mobilized a small army of six men to accompany Sam back to his home to deal with Sadie’s uncle. With Briggs in custody and knowing that he wouldn’t be let out so easily due to everything Sam had learned within the last twenty-four hours, his sole focus was on getting back to Sadie and Ruby.
The strange combination of relief and worry washed over Sam—an all too familiar feeling. He’d dealt with contradicting emotions many times during those last four years, but today was one of the worst he’d ever experienced, because this time it was all too real.
Sam was exhausted, agitated and nervous, so he didn’t wait for John and his men to get ready.
He stormed out of the office and mounted a fresh horse from the sheriff’s stables.
He’d make sure to return the previous mare to the rightful owner as soon as everything was over—well fed and well rested—something he very much craved for himself.
His stomach was rumbling like a growling wolf.
However, in that moment, Sam pushed the new horse as hard as he could.
Daylight was fading fast; it was getting dark rather quickly during this time of year. The sky had been gloomy all day, but the clouds started to look heavy and there was a different kind of chill in the air. Sam knew that they could expect more than just a dusting of snow overnight.
Racing down the long road toward the ranch house made Sam think of Walter, and he wondered if he looked just like him, with his coat billowing behind him.
Arriving at the house, Sam jumped off the horse, quickly draped the reins over the railing and ran up the steps to the front porch.
Just as he’d expected, he was greeted by screaming chaos. Two of the maids stood in the doorway to the sitting room, hugging each other with scared faces.
“Where is Ruby?” he asked them. They both pointed upstairs.
“Louise is with her,” one of them supplied helpfully.
There was a loud crash of something falling to the floor from the far end of the hallway. Walter could be heard all the way in Sadie’s study, screaming at her about ledgers and access to her money. Sadie could barely get a word in.
Sam felt horrible that he’d left his wife alone with this man. He wondered where Daniel was when the foreman appeared upstairs on the landing.
“Sam! Thank God you’re home!” he ran down the stairs, taking two at a time. He had blood smeared on one side of his face.
“What happened to you?” Sam asked, bewildered, as both men rushed to Sadie’s study.
“He hit Ellen! Walter pushed her and she fell, hitting her head,” Daniel explained furiously. Raw anger rolled off of him in waves. “She tried to protect Sadie…”
“Where is the money?” Walter screamed with a high-pitched voice. “I need to know where you stash all of it! It’s mine now! Not yours!”
Sam just about made it to the door when a stack of papers was flung at his feet, violently scattering all over the place.
Entering the study, he was in utter shock at the mess he found.
Every single drawer was pulled out, every door of every cabinet stood wide open, there were papers everywhere—some dangerously close to the fireplace on the opposite wall.
He could also see the droplets of blood where Ellen must have fallen.
“Stop it!” Sadie yelled helplessly as she rushed to grab her uncle’s arm, who pulled a whole stack of ledgers from a shelf, throwing them heedlessly to the floor. “Stop! I can’t help you if you are destroying everything!”
“I don’t need your help anymore, niece!” Walter responded with a crazed look on his face.
Sadie’s face was wet with tears and half of her hair had come loose.
Had Walter touched her? Hurt her? Sam’s outrage bubbled to the surface. He’d had enough of all the craziness today.
“Walter!” Sam yelled as loud as he could, because he knew that he needed to get that man’s attention. Sadie’s uncle’s head spun around to Sam and his face pulled into a hateful expression. His eyes seemed glazed, they had a wild look to them.
“What are you doing in my house?” Walter screamed at Sam, sounding hysterical. “This is my house! Leave right now! I have the right to shoot you if you don’t!”
“Sam!” Sadie called out with a loud sob. She was frozen where she stood, amidst the utter destruction her uncle had caused, looking so very small and defeated. Sam’s heart broke into a thousand pieces, seeing her like this.
Sam shot Daniel a quick glance, then both men stepped toward Walter at the same time.
Walter screamed like a girl and tried to hide behind the large desk. He grabbed the inkwell and threw it at them, but it missed both, crashing loudly on a pile of papers and splashing black ink everywhere. Sadie cried out and sank to her knees.
Sam was so furious, he couldn’t hold back his anger any longer. Too many things had happened. Too many things that had put his family in danger—more than once.
Daniel came in from one side, Sam from the other, as both rounded the large desk to get to Walter. However, that man didn’t give up so easily. Walter jumped over the top of the desk and fled out of the room, slipping and sliding on all the papers strewn on the floor.
Sam roared in utter frustration as he and Daniel chased after him.
Unfortunately, Walter wasn’t easily caught.
Sam knew that Walter had lived in this house for a while, so Sadie’s uncle knew every nook and cranny and utilized that knowledge during his escape.
Sam didn’t even know all of the back doors and servant pathways that existed in this large house, stairwells and corridors that seemingly led nowhere, only to end up in yet another room leading to another hallway.
At some point, Walter made the mistake of running out of the house.
Daniel knew the terrain better than anyone, even in the dark.
Sam ran after Walter, who was surprisingly spry and quick on his feet, and at one point Sam thought that he’d lost Daniel along the way, but that wasn’t the case.
The foreman had just taken a detour and suddenly showed up right in front of Walter when he was running along a tall hedge.
“This is for Ellen!” Sam heard Daniel yell, then came a loud smacking sound, followed by a grunt and a thud.
“And this is for Sadie!” Daniel growled as he punched Walter again. Walter released a painful groan.
Sam could have stopped Daniel, but he didn’t.
Walter had it coming.
Sam waited and let Daniel have his moment, because Sam knew that he would have his in court. When Daniel finally stepped aside, Daniel had wiped Walter’s cocky smile successfully off his face.
Sam stepped over Walter and bent his wrists onto his back—much further than was comfortable. Walter groaned some more, but Sam didn’t care.
Sam and Daniel grabbed Walter by the elbows, which caused him even more pain in his wrists, and dragged him back toward the house.
When Sam looked up, at least a dozen torches appeared in front of the house.
“Sam! Did we miss all the fun already?” John called out as he jumped off his horse. Some of his men followed suit, while half of them remained seated.
“I’m going to check on Ellen,” Daniel said to Sam and disappeared inside the house. Sam didn’t blame him. He wanted to do the same and go look for Sadie, but first he had to deal with her despicable uncle.
“I wouldn’t call it fun,” Sam replied. He hadn’t been aware how breathless he’d been. “What are we going to do with him?”
John laughed and pulled out a small rolled-up paper. He made a bit of a show of it when he unrolled it, leaning closer to one of the torch lights to be able to read it.
“I just so happen to have an arrest warrant for you, Walter,” he declared, sounding almost happy to read it. “Have you ever heard of a small place called Columbus? Does that ring a bell?”
Sam froze. His breath hitched when he heard the name of his old town.
“You are accused of being involved in a murder case,” John informed Walter, who remained silent. “Apparently, Briggs had some things to say about you and your dealings over there.”
Sam held his breath. His entire body tensed.
“I hereby arrest you on formal charges in the murder case of Elizabeth Brown,” John said then. “You’ll be going to prison for a very, very long time.”
“I’m not sentenced yet!” Walter complained. He couldn’t speak properly, because his lip was swollen and he sounded as if he was missing a few teeth.
“Don’t worry! You will be,” John replied with a satisfied smile. “I cannot wait for that day, when you and Briggs won’t ever see sunlight again. The two of you have terrorized the area long enough.”
Sam wanted to say something to the same effect, but his heart pulled him back to the house.
“Will you take care of him? I need to go and check on my wife,” Sam asked, suddenly very tired.
“Of course! We’ll take him right now,” John said reassuringly. “We have a very special wagon for scumbags like you, Walter.”
Four men surrounded Sadie’s uncle and picked him up, dragging him along until he disappeared into the darkness.
“You did a great job, Sam!” John told him as he walked back to his horse. “It’s an honor working with you. Come by my office in a couple of days, so we can finalize the arrests. Now, go and take care of your family.”
The sheriff’s men left with a lot of whistling and Sam looked after them for a brief moment, watching the lights of the torches traveling down the road.
“Sam?” Sadie’s voice came from behind him.
He turned and walked toward the steps leading up to the front porch. Looking up, he saw Sadie standing in the doorway.
Her frame looked fragile and as tired as he felt.
“Is it over?” she asked him with a small voice. “Is it finally over? I can’t take any more.” Sam nodded.
“It’s over,” he told her, and he almost didn’t believe it.
Sam walked up the steps and by the time he reached the last one, Sadie ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him.
They stood in the quiet of the cold night, holding each other and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, Sam could breathe easy.