Chapter Fourteen
When Sep and Angela arrived at April’s, they found out that April had just given birth to a girl.
“I went into labor late last night,” April told them from where she rested on her bed. “She came into this world around four this morning. You two couldn’t have come at a better time.”
Sep glanced over at his new niece, who was currently asleep in Angela’s arms. Angela was smiling down at the girl’s face, and Sep could tell she was looking forward to having children of her own. One thing Sep would definitely do was teach his sons how to treat women right, and if he had daughters, he would teach them what kind of man to look for when they were searching for a husband.
But in order to even worry about the future of his children, he had to make sure Angela was safe. He patted the small of Angela’s back and said, “I’m going to run that errand while you stay here with April and enjoy your time with…” He glanced over at April. “Did you name her yet?”
April nodded. “We decided on Opal.”
Angela smiled. “I like it. How did you decide on it?”
“When I was expecting Nora, I already knew what I was going to name her because I loved the name Nora ever since I was a little girl. Joel liked the name Hannah, so we chose that for the second child. And both of us liked Levi, so that was easy for the boy. Opal, however, was more difficult because we didn’t have another name to give a girl.”
“How did you choose Opal then?” Angela asked.
“Nora picked it. Apparently, there’s a girl at the schoolhouse by that name who is really nice, and when Nora woke and saw the baby, she wanted to give her the name Opal. Joel and I had been throwing around different names through the whole pregnancy, and nothing we chose seemed to fit.” She shrugged. “It seemed like the best thing to do was to go with her suggestion.”
“That’s just lovely.” Angela glanced at Sep. “Don’t you think that’s lovely?”
Sep didn’t know if he would consider it lovely, but he did think it was sweet that Nora had chosen the girl’s name, so he indicated his agreement. But, he had more pressing things on his mind. “I think I’ll congratulate Joel.”
The two women started talking again about the baby, so Sep left the room.
Joel was in the kitchen with Nora, Hannah, and Levi, who were eating sandwiches. Joel was slumped in his chair, looking as if he was ready to go to sleep. At the moment, Nora was instructing Levi on how to properly sit while he ate.
“Your back needs to be straight,” Nora said in an authoritative tone that made Sep chuckle.
When she looked over at him, Sep explained, “You act so much like my sister. You’re like a mother already.”
She didn’t seem to understand his reasoning, but that didn’t really matter. He decided to tear off a small piece of Levi’s sandwich and feed it to Fred, who eagerly ate it. The boy didn’t seem to be all that hungry since he was taking his time eating. In his experience, when kids were hungry, they ate fast. Fred, however, seemed to be able to eat anything at any time.
But that wasn’t why he was here. He turned his attention back to Joel who was drifting off to sleep. Sep went over to him and shook his arm. “I need to talk to you.”
Joel jerked awake.
“Something important has come up, and I need your help,” Sep said. “I would rather not discuss this here. We need to go to another room.”
With a nod, Joel stood up and followed him to the parlor. Mindful of the women and children, Sep lowered his voice and quickly explained everything that had transpired since the moment he found the missive waiting for him in the barn.
He even pulled out the piece of paper demanding the money and showed it to him. “I need to find out if any of the men escaped from jail,” Sep told Joel. “But I can’t go directly to Owen about this because I think I’m being watched. I was wondering if you would go to your sister, Jenny, and have her ask Owen if anyone escaped. Then when she comes back to you, you can tell me.”
“That’s a lot of back-and-forth,” Joel replied.
“I’d do it myself if I thought I could get away with it, but whoever wrote that,” he tapped the missive in Joel’s hand, “means business. I’m not going to take my chances on this one. I did that with Harvey, and I made things worse. I have a plan in place, and in order to effectively use it, I need to be careful.”
“If there is someone watching you, then it stands to reason that the person knows you’re talking to me right now.”
“Which is why we’re not in front of any windows, and in case anyone is nearby, I’m whispering.”
“Alright, I’ll give you that, but what if someone sees me going to my sister’s?”
“Have your sister bring Owen something to eat. That way you won’t arouse any suspicions.”
“What if this person sees me going over to talk to her?”
“Speak loud enough so that he overhears you talking about the birth of your youngest daughter. I think we’re dealing with one man, so I don’t think you’ll be followed. I think he’s going to follow me to the bank. But if there is a second person, they could split up and you could be followed, too.”
Joel looked as if he was thinking of another option, something that would probably allow him to go to sleep sooner, but after a minute, he let out a long sigh. “Alright. I can tell that you have thought everything through. Your way will arouse the least suspicions.” He held up the missive. “Do you want this back, or do you want me to have Jenny give this to Owen?”
“Have her give it to Owen if something happens to me. It could be proof that can be used before the judge.”
“You mean if something happens to us. You don’t think I’m going to let you go back to your place by yourself, do you?”
Sep shook his head. “You can’t go with me. You have four children and a wife. Plus, you’re the best doctor in these parts.”
“My wife happens to be your sister. And you’re married, too. We either do this together, or you’re not doing it at all.”
Sep should’ve known that Joel was going to want to help him. A part of him wanted to say no because it was a huge risk he was taking. Sep was a good shot, much better than he had been that night when he had used the gun on Harvey, but he hadn’t had to try his skill out in a life or death situation since that night. Despite all of his practice, he might not be quick enough, calm enough, or good enough. He might fail, and if he failed, it could mean bad things for Joel. But, there was an advantage to having someone help him, and Joel was good in dangerous situations.
“I know you’re a proud man,” Joel told Sep. “But it’s not a weakness to ask for help, especially when things are as serious as this.” Joel showed him the missive. “You’re like the little brother I never had. I’m not going to stand by and watch anything bad happen to you if I can do something to stop it.”
Sep would be lying if he said Joel’s willingness to help him didn’t bring him relief. It would be nice to have someone else sharing the burden with him. “I’d be happy to have your help. Thank you.”
In an uncharacteristic move, Joel gave Sep a hug. “We’re friends. And friends stick together.”
Sep had no idea Joel regarded him in such high esteem. It felt good. It was one thing for Joel to think of him as a little brother, but it was another to be called a friend. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Sep hugged him back.
***
An hour later, Sep was at the bank pretending to sign the documents that would bind him to a $300 loan. It had taken some time to convince the bank employee to go along with the ruse. It didn’t help matters that he couldn’t go into detail and explain why he was pretending to take out a loan. In the end, though, he was able to convince the employee to do it by paying the bank a small fee.
“I still can’t believe you’re making such an unusual request,” the man said as Sep signed the loan papers.
Since the papers were real and Sep was signing his name to them, he had written in the loan amount at zero dollars. It was a ridiculous thing to do unless someone understood why he was doing it.
The man who had written the missive to him was probably watching him. If he did anything that didn’t look authentic, it would ruin his plan. He had already told the man that he was going to get the $300. Now, he was in the process of making the man think he was actually getting it.
Then, he would leave Angela in town to spend the night with April, so when he went back home with Fred, the man would assume he was leaving Angela there so that she wouldn’t get involved in the transaction when Sep “gave” the money to him.
Sep didn’t plan to hand the money to the man outright. Fred was good at tracking things. Usually, Fred would track animals, especially deer, when he was hunting. But in this case, he figured that Fred might be able to sniff out the trail the man was taking around his property. He hated to take that kind of risk with Fred, knowing full well the plan could backfire on him, but he couldn’t pick out the man’s scent. He needed Fred to help him.
Joel would be helping him, too, but his role would be different. He would not be coming out at the same time Sep would. Joel had agreed to stay back in town for twenty minutes. That would give Sep and the man enough time to go back out to the farm, which should be enough time for Joel to go out there undetected. Sep wanted to make sure the man didn’t expect Joel to be following them.
Sep wasn’t going to do anything to put himself or Fred at risk as soon as he got back home. He planned to place the envelope he was about to get from the banker into the bucket. He figured he would get to the house before the man did. Then he would try to find where the man had been hiding. When Joel got there, he could worry about finding the man then.
If the man had wanted a face-to-face confrontation, he would have approached Sep directly. But, he hadn’t done that. He had chosen to sneak around and then leave a letter for him.
The more Sep thought about it, the more he was convinced that this was the work of one man. It just didn’t seem logical that more than one man was behind all of this. If there was more than one man involved, then it stood to reason that they wouldn’t be taking such great care in hiding. And, if Sep remembered right, there was only one set of unfamiliar footprints when he noticed them on his property.
Sep finished signing the papers and looked at the banker who was sitting across the desk from him. “I know this is unusual,” Sep said. “I can’t explain why I need to do this, but I assure you that I have no other choice.”
Well, that wasn’t completely true. He could take out the loan for real and give the man the money. But, who knew if the man would be satisfied with $300? What if, in a year from now, he came back asking for another $100? Or another $200? Men who were greedy for money were often unsatisfied. They always wanted more. They could never get enough. Sep had been around Harvey enough to know that. As soon as Harvey knew he could get something from someone, all he did was coerce that person into giving him more.
Sep could not give the man who was blackmailing him a single dollar. As soon as he did, it would be over. And who knew if the stakes would be even higher next time? What if, by this time next year, Angela had a child? Right now, he had to worry about her and Fred. He didn’t want to worry about her, his child, and Fred. No. He needed to do it this way, and he needed to do it now.
The banker took the signed loan documents and finished writing on them. Then he went to the back of the room that Sep assumed had the money.
Sep glanced around but he didn’t recognize anyone. No one seemed particularly interested in him. They all seem to be doing their own business at the bank. Which only left him to suspect that the man was somewhere outside, lingering in a place close enough to the bank without taking the risk that Sep would catch him.
Sep thought about looking out the windows and seeing if he would find him, but then he thought better of it. The last thing he wanted was for the man to suspect that he was about to set a trap for him. And that meant he had to play the part of the scared man who was going to do anything someone told him to. He didn’t exactly enjoy playing the victim, but he found no other recourse. This method would buy him the time he needed.
Reassured that his plan would work, he relaxed in the chair and waited for the banker to return.