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Never Say Goodbye

By Vicki Talley McCollum

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Never Say Goodbye
(A National Park Romance Novella)
By Vicki Talley McCollum
 
Copyright © 2017
Written by: Vicki Talley McCollum
Published by: Forget Me Not Romances, a division of Winged Publications



This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

No part of this book may be copied or distributed without the author’s consent.
All rights reserved.
 
Dedication

To my husband, Jeff, who supports my time spent writing and editing. I love you!
 

Acknowledgments

Thank you to my good friend and author Sandra Orchard, an incredible critique partner who’s always full of great ideas; my friend and author Carrie Fancett Pagels, a terrific encourager of my stories; Lindsey McCollum Rongey, my daughter and an always available reader and critique of my novellas; Laura Brands Graeler, my niece and a fabulous barn manager at a horse farm in Hannibal, Missouri, who made sure my horses were doing what they were supposed to do in my novellas; my sister-in-law and sweet friend, JoAnna Talley, another wonderful reader and critiquer of my not-quite-finished novellas; and a special thank you to Cynthia Hickey, a fabulous author and the publisher of Forget Me Not Romances.

Congress established Yellowstone as the world’s first National Park in 1872. It is home to 67 species of mammals, including the grizzly bear, the endangered gray wolf, and now 5,000 American buffalo, returned to the park from only 25 in the early 1900s. The park draws over 3 million visitors annually, encompasses 2.2 million acres, and boasts 250 active geysers.
My character, Captain Cole Rawlings, represents one of the U. S. Army soldiers that protected and managed the National Parks and their visitors from 1886 until 1916, when Congress established the National Park Service. (However, Cole tells Maddie that he is joining he NPS in 1911 due to my story’s setting, when the newly renovated Canyon Hotel celebrated its Grand Opening in August 1911.)
 

Chapter 1

Maddie Smith shivered in the cool morning air, glad she’d packed her tweed coat. She hadn’t needed it in Chicago, but in Yellowstone there were only two seasons, winter and July. This morning felt more like winter, but it was mid-July. She watched the commotion on the road below her. Five stagecoaches had lined up outside her hotel, preparing to load the guests for their drive out to the “nation’s fairyland.”
Lucy, her sister, joined her on the porch. “I overheard men talking in the lobby.” She took Maddie’s hand in hers. “I’m worried.”
“What’s wrong?” She rubbed Lucy’s hand as her face paled. “What did you hear?”
“They said a man had been taken from the Canyon Hotel.”
“Taken? Surely they meant he’d been arrested. He must have caused trouble.” She put her arm around Lucy’s waist. “You’ve been too anxious over Pete. You’ll be with him soon, so stop worrying.”
Maddie wasn’t worried about Pete’s safety; she figured he could take care of himself just fine. She was more concerned about her sister’s quick engagement just months after their father died. How well did Lucy know him? Not well enough, which is why she’d agreed to come with her on this trip. She wanted to get to know more about her sister’s fiancé before they actually got married.
Dust clouded the distant horizon. A group of horses trotted up the road, past the stone arch, and into town. They slowed as they neared the line of waiting stage coaches. An officer in uniform and lace-up boots lifted his campaign hat and spoke to the Wells Fargo man who leaned against a crate-filled wagon behind the coaches. After a few minutes, the officer motioned to his men to dismount.
The captain strode up to the porch, tipping his hat at the guests venturing down to the vehicles. He stopped in front of Maddie and Lucy, and held his hat to his chest.
“Are you traveling with us this morning, ladies?” His dark brown eyes held Maddie’s.
His crinkling smile drew her attention, but she squared her shoulders. “Is the Calvary escorting us to the park?”
“Yes, ma’am.” His warm smile continued. “We’ll make sure you arrive at your destination without incident.”
Lucy’s eyes widened at the captain. “Without incident? What do you expect to happen to us?”
“Not a thing, ma’am.” He put on his hat. “We’ll ride next to you the whole trip.”
~
Captain Cole Rawlings led the stage coaches along the dirt road. As the sun rose, the cool morning air warmed. At noon he directed them to stop at a shelter. The guests could stretch and cool off, eat the meals the hotel had packed.
The two young ladies he’d met at the hotel walked down to the creek, toward the cottonwood trees where he stood in the shade. Cole touched his brim when Maddie glanced at him. The mid-day heat had caused her to remove her jacket. She wore a white cotton blouse and wide-legged pantaloons that stopped just above her booted ankles. Out West, women rode horses and manhandled animals, so they dressed for the job like men. A woman couldn’t ride a horse appropriately in a hobble skirt, tied below the knees with ribbon like many of the female visitors. But Maddie, in her feminine trousers, sure didn’t look manly. She was definitely a woman. He removed his hat and returned their smile.
“Captain Rawlings, would you join us for lunch?” Maddie pushed up her hat. Her head tilted, displaying eyes the color of mountain grass, her lips parted in a smile.
“I’d be happy to join you, ladies.” Why hadn’t he approached them first, instead of standing off to himself? All his men had spoken to each of the ladies as they rode beside their coach on the road. No, he knew why. He was gun shy of women since Charlotte broke up with him last summer, unless he had business with them, like protecting them on the trail.
He followed them to the picnic shelter, grabbed a blanket from the box, and laid it under a white pine tree. The ladies filled tin plates with cold fried chicken and biscuits, and he grabbed three cups of lemonade. They settled on the blanket under the shade.
“Captain Rawlings, will you tell us more about the incidents that require the army to escort visitors in the park?” Lucy, the younger sister, settled her plate in her lap.
“Well, ma’am, the terrain is dangerous. Mountains have sharp drops, the sulfur ponds will boil your skin in no time, and wild animals roam the land, like the growing number of buffalo brought in to replenish the park.”
“The coach drivers must know about those dangers and how to avoid them.” Maddie’s eyebrows angled above her green eyes. “Why should the army be involved as well?”
“I imagine you’ve seen the fancy posters and articles encouraging Easterners to visit the park?” The ladies nodded. “Well, I’m afraid they bring criminals, too.” He set his plate on the blanket. “I’m sure you noticed the saloons in Gardiner, down the street from your hotel, this morning. Saloons bring out drunks, gamblers, prostitutes, and thieves. They make their way into the park along with the good visitors.”
Cole pointed toward the line of parked stage coaches. “This line was robbed a few weeks back. So we’re official escorts now, just in case.”
Lucy glanced out at the road as if expecting a sinister man to appear in the shadows, but Maddie cast an unwavering gaze at him.
“What did they steal?” she asked.
“Money from the men, jewelry from the women.” But more troubling to Cole were the stolen crates meant for the Canyon Hotel.
“Do you think they’re still out here?” Lucy shivered, her eyes wide.
“Yes, ma’am, I do.”
“Captain,” Lucy’s voice was low, and she glanced at Maddie as if for confirmation, “I heard two men say a man was taken from the Canyon Hotel. Do you know anything about it?”
Maddie slipped Lucy’s hand into hers. “My sister is concerned about her fiancé’s safety, but I’m sure she must have misunderstood the men.”
“Who did you hear say that, ma’am?”
“Two men at the hotel, where we stayed last night.” Lucy’s brow furrowed. “I heard them when I came down to the lobby this morning.”
“But surely the sheriff arrested the man, right, Captain?” Maddie glanced at him, waiting for his reply.
“The park doesn’t have a sheriff, ma’am. The army enforces the law here.” But soon that would change, and he hoped to become the superintendent of the new civilian ranger corps at the park.
“Then what did those men mean? Who took the man from the hotel, Captain?” Lucy fisted her hands and rubbed them on her skirt.
“I’ll look into it when we get to the Canyon, ma’am.” He helped them up from the blanket and put on his hat. “Ladies, not everyone at the park should be trusted. So don’t venture out all alone while you’re here.”
 
Chapter 2

The rugged beauty of Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon Hotel thrilled Maddie. The four-hundred room, five-story hotel was not only massive but gorgeous in its Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie school style, true luxury in the wilderness. The group they’d arrived with were checking in at the reservation counter. She sat in a wicker rocker in the red-birch paneled lobby, waiting for Lucy to return from the ladies room, pleased the hotel had indoor restrooms, running water, and electricity.
When Lucy joined her, they took a spot in the shortest line. The clerk at the counter welcomed them. “Ladies, you are in room 201. I’ll have a bellhop take up your luggage.” He handed Maddie a brass key. “Dinner is served from five till nine.”
“Pardon me, can you tell us Mr. Pontiac Streeter’s room number?” When he lifted his eyebrow at Lucy’s request, she said, “He’s my fiancé.”
The clerk viewed the guestbook. “There’s a Pete Streeter in room 315, ma’am.”
Lucy nodded. “He goes by Pete.”
“Shall I let him know you’ve arrived?”
“Tell him we’ll be down for dinner at six, please,” Maddie said.
~
The host seated them at a table in the birch dining room, next to one of the large wooden columns intertwined with tangled pine-tree branches at the top. Beyond the dining room were galleries of game rooms and tea rooms, and in the hall a large fire burned in the fireplace.
“Ladies, are you eating alone?” Captain Rawlings stopped at their table, his hat in his hand.
“You’re welcome to join us.” Maddie gazed up at his dark brown eyes.
“I ate with the troops earlier, but I’ll have a cup of coffee.” He eased into the chair next to hers. “Please call me Cole.” His long cotton sleeves tightened around his biceps when he crossed his arms. He held her gaze until Maddie averted hers to her glass of tea.
“Pete should be here by now. It’s seven thirty.” Lucy pushed her plate away. “I’m not very hungry.” She furrowed her brow at Cole. “I suppose it would be rude of me to ask you to check on my fiancé and see what’s keeping him.”
“We shouldn’t disturb Cole, Lucy. Anyway, the clerk left a message under his door, telling him we’d be here tonight. He’ll be here soon.”
“He should have been here a while ago.” Lucy bit her bottom lip.
“What’s your fiancé’s name?” Cole stirred sugar into the hot coffee the waiter brought him.
“Pontiac Streeter, but he goes by Pete.”
“Perhaps he’s still at work.” Maddie glanced at her.
“But then he’d be here in the hotel, taking pictures, wouldn’t he?”
“I’ll go check on him for you. What’s his room number?”
“Room 315. Is it okay if I come, too?”
“Please continue supper, I’ll be back shortly.” He bowed and left the dining room.
Fifteen minutes later, Lucy touched Cole’s coffee cup. “It’s gotten cold.”
Maddie glanced at the wall clock. “He’s been gone longer than I expected, too. Let’s go see what’s keeping them.”
They took the brass caged elevator to the third floor and walked down the hall. Cole stood in the center of an empty room.
“He’s not here?” Lucy held her hand over her mouth.
“Who let you in?” Maddie glanced around the room. No trunk or equipment anywhere to be seen, and the bed made.
“The door opened when I knocked.” Cole’s eyelids narrowed despite his calm expression. On the nightstand by the bed, he picked up a slip of paper. “Looks like the hotel clerk thought Streeter was here. This is his message. Let’s go to the desk and clear this up.”
The night clerk, a Mr. George Brainerd his tag said, sat at the front desk, a dime novel in his hand. “We’d like you to recheck Pete Streeter’s room, please,” Maddie said.
“Right away, ma’am.” He looked through the guestbook. “We have Mr. Streeter in room 315.”
“That room is empty.” Cole’s hands splayed across the desktop. “Where’s the manager?”
“I’ll go get him.” The clerk shuffled back to the office and returned with a slightly graying man wearing a bow tie.
“I’m Charlie Jenkins.” He slipped his prominent watch chain back into his pocket. “What can I help you with, ladies, sir?”
“Pete Streeter is not in 315,” Cole said. “We checked the room.”
Mr. Jenkins viewed the guestbook, paused for a moment, and nodded at the clerk. “Ah, now I remember. Mr. Streeter checked out Friday morning, before breakfast. I’m afraid we failed to enter his departure time in the book.” He handed the pen to George, who sneered at him but took it and grabbed the book.
“He checked out?” Lucy’s eyes rimmed with tears. “Did he leave a message for me?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, he didn’t.” Mr. Jenkins tugged on his bow tie, his eyes blinking.
“Did he say why he was leaving early?” Cole’s right eyebrow lifted with his question.
The manager’s face reddened. “We don’t discuss our guests’ decisions with them, sir. Anyway, he seemed in a hurry; I doubt he wanted to be questioned.” He nodded toward the clerk. “George will check with the other hotels in case Mr. Streeter changed locations rather than leaving the park.”
“He wouldn’t go to another hotel.” Maddie stared at the manager. “He came to photograph this hotel for his newspaper.”
“Well, I’m afraid he left this morning, ma’am.” Mr. Jenkins licked his lips.
“I don’t believe he’d just leave like this”—Lucy wiped tears from her cheeks—“without somehow letting me know.”
Cole took Maddie by the arm and guided them away from the counter, toward the dining room. “You should go finish supper, ladies. And try to get some rest tonight.” His smile thinned. “I’ll find out where he went.”
“But—” Lucy grabbed Cole’s hand. “What if he isn’t safe? What if Pete is the man who was taken?”
“We’ll find him, don’t worry. I’ll check in at the fort’s telegraph office. Maybe he tried to contact you before he left.”
Lucy’s face paled, but she nodded. “Let’s just go to our room, Maddie. I’m sure our dinner has gotten too cold anyway, and I want to pray for Pete.”
“That’s a good idea.” Cole nodded. “I’ll see you in the morning, ladies.”
Maddie held Lucy’s hand as the elevator gate closed, noticing Cole returning to the registration desk.
~
Lucy, who’d cried until her tears were gone, dressed for bed, but Maddie didn’t change. She was angry at Pete for hurting her sister, and she wanted to go to the lobby to see if Cole had returned to talk to the nightshift. But she stayed with her sister while they read scripture, prayed for Pete’s safety, and also for Cole’s success in finding him. Lucy settled into bed while Maddie sat in the chair, waiting for her to fall asleep.
Something was odd about the two clerks’ behavior tonight. She didn’t believe they’d told the truth about Pete leaving. Why would he simply return to Chicago when he’d invited Lucy to come visit him here? He’d just better have a good reason for his absence.
When Lucy finally fell asleep, Maddie closed the door and took the stairs to the landing instead of the elevator, which would create a noise when the gate opened. She didn’t want the clerks to hear her.
A few couples were still at dinner, and several men smoked pipes together in the game room. She slipped past the front desk. Where was the clerk? Was he in the night manager’s office? If so, she’d wait until they left. She wanted to see the hotel’s ledgers. If Pete checked himself out, there had to be a record of it; perhaps that’s what Cole had returned to check. It was odd that Mr. Jenkins just happened to remember Pete had checked out that Friday morning, yet they hadn’t recorded it in the guestbook.
At the night manager’s door, low voices spoke and chair legs creaked. Was Cole in there, too? Pipe tobacco wafted into the hallway from under the door, a Turkish blend her father used to smoke. At least they had good taste. She missed her father; he’d been an excellent journalist, until he investigated the wrong crime family.
Footsteps crossed to the door, so she slipped into the room across the hall. She kept it open just enough to hear, and perhaps see, who came out. Light emanated from the office when the door cracked opened.
“Glad you stopped by, Rawlings.” Mr. Jenkins pushed the door open. Cole strode down the hall and out the front door.
Mr. Jenkins stopped the clerk’s exit. “Don’t tell anybody Rawlings was here, understand? We don’t want any questions from the men about him.” When Brainerd nodded, Jenkins put his pipe in his mouth, locked the door, and followed him to the reception desk.
Cole had been with them all that time? Why didn’t Mr. Jenkins want the clerk to tell anyone they’d talked to Cole? Maybe she couldn’t trust him either. After all, he’d said they shouldn’t trust everyone at the park.
 
Chapter 3

The next morning they had breakfast on the sunny porch. “Cole said he’d be here first thing.” Lucy twisted her napkin. “Where could he be?”
“He probably stopped at the telegraph office.” Maddie fluffed the stripped pillow in her wicker chair. She greeted the redheaded lady seated at the table next to theirs.
“You were up early this morning.” Lucy said.
“I wanted to see when Mr. Jenkins and George Brainerd left the hotel.” She paused. How much should she tell Lucy?
“Cole’s here.” Lucy waived to him as he mounted the steps.
“Morning, ladies. May I join you?” He glanced at Maddie and then sat in the chair next to hers when she nodded. “I hope you were able to sleep last night, despite the turn of events.”
“Not too well.” Lucy sighed. “Though we prayed for Pete, and for your investigation, too.”
Cole set his hat on the table. “I appreciate that, ma’am.”
“Maddie got up early. She wanted to check on the nightshift clerks.”
Cole glanced at Maddie, a cool light lit his eyes. “Did you learn anything from them?”
“Mr. Jenkins had already left for the day.” Should she mention she saw Cole with them last night? But she didn’t want Lucy to know about it, not yet. Lucy trusted Cole, and she didn’t believe Maddie trusted anyone. Especially men.
“You need to stay away from Jenkins and Brainerd.” Cole swept his fingers through his hair.
Maddie arched her eyebrow as she gazed at him. “But I plan to talk to all the hotel’s workers. We have to find Pete.”
“Trust me, ma’am, I’ll find him. But I want to keep you two safe, and the other guests, as well.”
“What if something awful has happened to Pete and he didn’t return to Chicago?” Concern hooded Lucy’s eyes.
“He’ll be fine, ma’am.”
“Did you go to the telegraph office this morning?” Maddie asked.
He nodded. “They haven’t seen him. However, my men are checking for him at the other hotels.” The waiter poured coffee into his cup, and he added two teaspoons of sugar. “No sense waiting to hear back from Brainerd.”
“What time did you leave the hotel last night, Cole?”
He gazed at her as if her question surprised him. “Shortly after I said good night to you two, at the elevator.” He set his spoon down. “Why do you ask?”
“I came down to the lobby, since I didn’t want to keep Lucy awake.” She dabbed a tea drop off the table with her napkin. “I thought I saw you leave at ten. That would have been an hour after we parted.”
“I’m flattered you’re interested in my comings and goings, ma’am.” He smiled, his gaze now curious.
“It’s a good thing she’s finally interested in someone! She’s been too fixated on my engagement, and not nearly enough on finding someone—”
“Let’s keep our private matters to ourselves, please!” Maddie glared at her sister. Why bring up her failed relationship with this strange man, a man she didn’t trust?
“I’m teasing, dear.” Lucy took Maddie’s hand, her smile genuine. “I know you want only the best for me. And of course, Pete is the best for me, you know.” She glanced at Cole. “Are you avail—”
“Lucy!”
“What? Perhaps he’s available to ride horses with us today.” She smiled at Cole. “Maddie insists I take lessons, something to occupy myself with while we wait to hear from Pete.”
“I’d love to join you, but I have an investigation to carry out.” Cole picked up his hat. “But please enjoy your riding lessons, ladies.”
“I don’t have a lot of choice, I guess.” Lucy picked up her small leather purse that matched her riding boots.
Cole’s right eyebrow lifted as he gazed at Maddie. “Watch who you spend time with here. Like I said, you can’t trust everyone in the park.”
~
Cole took the new-fangled elevator to the senior manager’s floor. He preferred getting around on his legs, but Maddie liked new things, her fancy pantaloons and horse riding clothes. Maybe he should acquaint himself with new things. But Charlotte had been attracted to new things, too—he rubbed the back of his neck—like that man she’d met and married while Cole served in the army. He should’ve taken the stairs after all. He knocked on Lowell McMaster’s door.
“Come in.”
Cole pushed open the door. “I need to ask you some questions, Lowell.”
“Tell me what’s up.”
Cole set his hat on the table and leaned forward in his chair. “What do you know about Pete Streeter leaving the hotel early?
“You mean the photographer?” Lowell shook his head. “I didn’t know he’d left. Expected him to be here a couple weeks. He was to take pictures of the new lounge at the grand opening in a few days.”
“He left Friday morning, according to Charlie Jenkins. He said Streeter left in a hurry.”
Lowell grimaced. “He didn’t talk to me about it.”
“How well do you know Jenkins?”
“Not too well. He’s worked here about a year, started right before the renovations began last fall.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Why do you ask?”
“Do you trust him?”
Lowell stroked his goatee. “Obviously, you don’t, or you wouldn’t be asking me about it.”
Cole nodded. “I don’t think he’s telling the truth about Streeter.”
“It is strange the man left in a hurry.” Lowell gazed at Cole. “Did Jenkins say anything else?”
“I questioned him last night and asked to see the paperwork to show how Streeter paid for his room. Jenkins said he didn’t have the authority to show me. He did say he was glad I’d stopped by.” Cole laughed. “But he didn’t tell me anything worthwhile.”
“I haven’t talked to Jenkins in several days.” Lowell lit his cigar. “As a manager, he has a room here, but he doesn’t stay around when he’s not working. Rarely sleeps here.”
“What about George Brainerd? Do they spend time together?”
“Jenkins hired Brainerd to work the front desk for him.” He paused. “Brainerd sleeps out at the employee barracks.” He stood up, put his cigar in his mouth, and opened the door. “Let’s go down and I’ll check those ledgers for you.”
In the finance office on the main floor, Lowell went through a stack of recent payment slips without finding anything on Streeter. As he sifted through the month’s accounting ledger, several entries marked Storage stood out.
“What are those about?”
“We’ve ordered fifteen hundred pieces of furniture for the Canyon Hotel, not counting all the fancy art and glassware.” He stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray. “We keep it stored out on Norris Road till we have need for it.”
“In that big section of sheds out by the employee barracks?”
He nodded and closed the ledger. “Nothing here about Streeter.” He glanced at Cole. “Do you think him leaving like that has anything to do with the robberies?”
Cole shrugged. “I don’t know, yet. But I’d appreciate it if you don’t tell Jenkins we talked.”
“Happy to help.”
At the front lobby, John Williams, the day clerk, slipped in behind the reservation desk. He smirked at Cole, possibly intending a smile.
Cole nodded. He’d need to talk to Williams, but first he’d visit the sheds out on Norris Road. Maybe stop in at the employee barracks to see if Jenkins or Brainerd were there.
~
Maddie and Lucy, along with a group of hotel guests, waited at the stable while a wrangler instructed them on handling their mounts and staying safe on the trail. A woman with curly red hair stood between Lucy’s horse and her own.
“Hello, again.” She smiled. “We had breakfast on the porch this morning. I was at the table across from yours. I’m Ruby Griffin.”
“I remember you. I’m Maddie and this is my sister, Lucy.”
“I’m a new rider.” Ruby laughed. “So I’m pleased the wrangler spent so much time telling us what to do.”
“I don’t ride either. Maddie signed me up for lessons.”
“You’ll both do fine.” Maddie wrapped her horse’s reins around her hand. “A short ride like this one on your first time out is a good choice.”
“I’m glad to meet two new friends here. Perhaps our horses will allow us to ride together, rather than taking off their own way instead.” She laughed.
Maddie climbed on her horse as the wranglers tightened the cinch on Lucy’s and Ruby’s horses and checked their stirrups. She glanced up the field to the front of the hotel. Cole strode toward his horse, a determined look on his face. He’d planned to talk to the hotel’s senior manager after breakfast. In fact, she’d wanted to go with him but couldn’t think of a way to invite herself, so instead she came for Lucy’s riding lesson.
Lucy followed her gaze to the hotel, where Cole had mounted his horse. “You could ride with him. Maybe find out what he learned at his meeting.”
Maddie shook her head. “I’m staying for your lesson. We can talk to him later.”
“I have a new horse-riding friend now, so you don’t need to stay, right, Ruby?”
Ruby glanced from Lucy to Maddie, and then up at the hotel. “Of course not, we’ll do fine together.” But her gaze was distant, not warmed by her toothy smile.
Did Ruby know Cole? Maddie blew out a breath. Cole escorted the coaches, so they had to know each other, or at least had met. Still, Ruby’s smiled seemed forced.
“Ruby and I prefer you go ride with Cole.” Lucy nodded her head toward him and his horse.
Would Cole tell her what he had learned this morning? Maddie wasn’t so sure about that, but she could ask. “Okay, I’ll meet you at the hotel later.” As Lucy and Ruby’s wrangler grabbed their horses’ reins and lined them up, Maddie urged her horse forward to the coach landing and Cole.
But he was in a hurry; his horse left the grounds and began trotting up the road before she could catch up. She kicked her heals to spur her horse on, but Cole’s now cantered down Norris Road.
Where was he going? Had he discovered something important he wanted to check out? Maybe she shouldn’t let him know she’d followed him. He said he didn’t want her getting involved in his investigation. He might send her back to the hotel if he saw her. She slowed. She’d keep him in sight as she followed.
A mile down the road stood a field lined with four long sheds. Two partially filled wagons were parked out front. Cole had tied his horse to a tree out of sight of the sheds, under the tree branches. She dismounted and walked her horse over to Cole’s. She tied the reins around a slender tree trunk, took an apple out of her saddle pouch, and held it to her horse’s mouth. “Stay here.” She patted his neck as he took the treat. “I won’t be long.”
She moved under the line of trees, in the shadows, and walked to the sheds. Inside, men shouted back and forth, yelling out crate numbers to load in the wagons. Surely Pete’s disappearance didn’t have anything to do with these sheds. Cole was probably checking on something else, like the robberies. She hated to think Pete had something to do with that. She should turn around and go back to the hotel before Cole discovered she’d followed him. Just ahead of her, voices carried out of the front door. She stopped. Where could she hide?
An arm circled her waist, and a hand clamped over her mouth. “Shush! Don’t say anything!”
She struggled inside the man’s arms, trying to get loose. What if one of the robbers had her? She had to get away!
The man guided her around to the back of the shed. She bit down hard on his hand and he let go of her mouth. “Maddie!”
She whirled around to face him. “Cole? What are you doing?”
“Quiet, don’t let anyone hear you.” He glanced around the corner to the front of the sheds.
“What’s going on?” She tried to block the sun from her eyes with her hand.
“You shouldn’t be here.” His eyes narrowed as he gazed at her.
She’d made him angry. He’d said she shouldn’t trust everyone in the park. Why had she followed him out here, when no one knew where she’d gone? She pulled back from him then stopped her flight. No. She would stay right here to find out what was going on, if he liked it or not.

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