Walker bit back a grin when he muttered a few choice words. “Still not on good terms with the Arnaud boys, I take it.”
The look Osborne shot him at least had a touch of humor in it this time. “But while they’re here with Yetta, are you up for a little excursion to the rail yard?”
Snooping around in broad daylight, while Hughes was there in his office? Walker grinned. “Now you’re talking my language.”
Osborne headed into the stable, but Walker strode instead for Ize and Hez, who must have caught a glimpse of Osborne, given their scowls in that direction. He chuckled and took the horses’ leads in hand. “You two ever gonna let up on him?”
Isaac snarled. “Sure. Once he leaves.”
Hez sighed. “I would probably like him well enough if Mari didn’t like him so well.”
“Hez.” Walker shook his head and rubbed the nose of the painted mare.
“Well, one cannot ignore the evidence. She has faulty taste in men. First Lucien, and then Dev.”
“Don’t overlook the bevy of other objectionable beaux she stringed along until Lucien proposed.” Ize scowled in the direction of the house. “Our sister is inconstant and often foolish. If she likes someone, chances are he is too ambitious, too selfish, or of questionable morals.”
All amusement faded. He knew Isaac was mule headed, but Hez—he’d have thought Hez would have seen the change in her. Reevaluated, like the scientist he was. He clicked his tongue to urge the horses forward. “She has made her fair share of mistakes, but the real fools here are you for not realizing she’s repented of them.”
He left them to chew on that, though they probably wouldn’t. Deliberately shaking it off, he helped Osborne finish saddling their horses and was grateful for his silence as they mounted up and headed for the station.
The change in the city was palpable as they rode through. Still just as beat-up and run-down as ever, but folks seemed to smile more. Hope had finally come to call this past week. There might yet be a few skirmishes, but the war was over. With Richmond fallen, Lee’s surrender, and the Thirteenth Amendment passed, things were finally going to be different.
It took a few minutes for him to realize Osborne kept sending him sidelong glances. Walker lifted his brows. “Something on your mind, Oz?”
The detective pursed his lips and nodded. “Rumor has it Lincoln plans to go to Fort Sumter for the raising of the American flag on the anniversary of the battle.”
He waited a moment, but when Osborne said no more, he drew the connecting lines himself. The anniversary was the twelfth of April—just two days away. If Lincoln were to go to South Carolina now, then…well. That might get in the way of the KGC’s plan to act in the next little while, mightn’t it? “Sounds like we need to pay your friend Herschel another visit.”
“Not ‘we,’ Walker. Not with Cora as she is.”
Hence the looks, he supposed. “So you go. I’ll keep an eye on Yetta.”
Osborne nodded, but he gripped the reins too tightly. No doubt worrying over Hughes being so close to Marietta with him gone. Walker had told him about the scene in the garden the week before. Though when he’d seen the way Osborne’s eyes snapped, he’d almost wished he had kept it to himself.
Camden Street Station soon appeared, a hub of activity as always. It should be easy to blend into the crowds. They probably ought to hitch their horses out of sight and walk in. Slip through the crowds of passengers and around to where the workers were. No one would think anything of seeing Osborne around. So long as they could avoid Hughes…
“Osborne!”
Blast.
Osborne no doubt had the same thought, but he covered it well. His fingers relaxed, and his face moved into its usual mask of wary watchfulness. He turned his mount toward where Hughes stood, a hand lifted.
He didn’t look concerned at finding Osborne there, though the glare he sent Walker could have set fire to a bucket of water. “Bringing your dog to work now, Osborne?”
Though he shifted in his saddle, Oz made no reply. Just measured Hughes in the way that said Get to your point.
He did, his gaze back to welcome when he turned to Osborne. “I didn’t expect you so soon. The courier must have been eager for a tip. You didn’t leave Mari alone, did you?”
Though Osborne must wonder why Hughes had sent a courier to fetch him, he didn’t so much as blink out of turn. “Her brothers are there.”
“Ah, good. Well, your friend is waiting in my office.” He motioned toward the building but headed in the opposite direction. “Take your time. I have inspections to conduct.”
His friend? He no doubt had plenty of them, but the only one Walker had ever heard him mention was Herschel. That would be an answer to an unspoken prayer.