Violet was horrified, imagining what Sullivan and his men would do to him to gain that information, and glanced frantically at the housekeeper. “Why is Sullivan going to such lengths to take over Morgan’s and Papa’s mines when he already has one? Is his here in Butte running out of silver?”
“Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time. He’s greedy for money and power, no amount of either of those things will ever be enough, and he doesn’t want anyone challenging his position as the last of the silver kings. He was furious when he found out that Callahan was taking that title away from him. As rich and powerful as he is, no one ever tells him no, except Morgan Callahan. All that did was make Mr. Sullivan mad and more determined than ever. He’s one of those men who just don’t care who they step on to get what they want.”
Violet had told Sullivan no, which made her distinctly uneasy now. “Can’t you bring the sheriff here?”
Abigail sighed. “If only it were that simple. Sheriff Gibson is a good man, but he would never believe me, a nobody-housekeeper, if I told him my employer, one of the richest and most powerful mine owners in the territory, was holding your father prisoner in his attic. It’s an incredible accusation. The sheriff would never insult Mr. Sullivan by asking to search his house without good cause. And who knows what Mr. Sullivan would do to me if he found out I’d gone to the sheriff? I fear, though, that he would kill Charles rather than let him be found here to incriminate him.”
“What about the empty grave? That would be proof, wouldn’t it?”
“But it’s not empty. They actually had a body, a miner who’d just died and hadn’t been buried yet. But Charles shouldn’t have been here this long. Mr. Sullivan had intended to deal with him when he regained consciousness, instead of with Callahan. Exchanging him for Callahan’s mine was his alternate plan, but the boy never picked up the messages Mr. Sullivan left for him at his hotel.”
“Ransom notes? There’s our proof.”
Abigail shook her head. “I saw one of them on his desk before he had it delivered. It didn’t mention ransom. He’s too smart to implicate himself like that. His demands will be made in person, without witnesses.”
“But it won’t work. There’s nothing that could make Morgan give up his mine.”
“Have you misjudged him?” Charles asked in concern. “He’s been nothing but good to me, Violet, when he didn’t have to help me. And he pretty much gave me all that silver when he didn’t have to do that either.”
“But his mine for ransom? He’s obsessed with the bloody thing.”
“Even if he didn’t just hand it over to Sullivan, he would have gotten me out of this if he knew about it. I have no doubt of that.”
She blushed, because she didn’t doubt it either, not really. Morgan had rescued her, hadn’t he? Risked his life to do so. And he’d been right about Shawn Sullivan after all. The man really would resort to any means to get what he wanted, including abduction and murder. She was just so afraid of what would happen to her father if Morgan didn’t agree immediately to Sullivan’s demands.
She was beginning to feel—trapped. “We should leave now while they’re all asleep.”
“We can’t,” Abigail said. “As long as Sullivan is in the house, his guards surround it. We can’t even sneak out a window without one of them noticing—not that your father is up to something like that. He’s still very weak.”
“I can’t leave without him,” Violet insisted.
“You aren’t listening, dear. You’re as much a prisoner as he is. They just haven’t made that clear yet because you haven’t tried to leave.”
“Abby isn’t being melodramatic, Violet,” Charles put in. “Sullivan and his sister came up to the attic the other day. They thought I was still unconscious and were arguing about getting rid of me. They’re losing patience, waiting for me to wake up. I’m surprised I didn’t give myself away, with them standing there talking about killing me in a few more weeks.”
“It’s going to happen sooner now that they have you, child,” Abigail warned her. “They will use him as leverage against you if you don’t pretend to cooperate and take them to the mines. But once they have what they want, they can’t just let you go, either. So this needs to be resolved before that happens.”
“How?!” Violet was terrified for both her father and herself.
“He plans to leave with you and his men in the morning. He’s certain you can lead him right to Callahan’s camp because you’ve been there. Can you?”
“Yes, I can now. But when Morgan took me there, he went by a circuitous route that took a full extra day, and he blindfolded me for the last six hours of that trip, just so I couldn’t lead anyone back there.”
Charles grinned. “That’s perfect—you can honestly say that it took you nearly two days to reach it, when it’s only a half day’s ride from town. Try to stay on the east road as long as you can, so the sheriff can easily find you.”
She glanced between them. “You two have already planned this?”
Abigail nodded. “And for it to work, you will have to go with Sullivan willingly. If he has to force you by revealing that your father is alive and threatening to kill him if you don’t take him to the mine, he’ll leave too many men behind to guard the house, and I won’t be able to help Charles escape.”
“Aren’t there a lot of servants here who could stop you?” Violet asked.
“They won’t, but Kayleigh will try to. However, she leaves the house every day for one reason or another, usually before noon. We will leave as soon as she does and go straight to the sheriff. And I’ll count how many men Sullivan rides out with to make sure the sheriff takes more than that number with him. So just cooperate as long as you can. You can do so grudgingly if you think that will help—yes, I was listening outside the dining room door tonight and heard your protests against taking him to the mine. Just get as far from town as you can before you admit you’re not sure where the mines are. We need half a day at least to sneak your father out of the house and get him to the sheriff, and the sheriff may need a few more hours to round up a big enough posse.”
Violet nodded, trying not to reveal how worried and scared she was. She wished Morgan were here to deal with all of this for her.
Her father must have sensed her unease, because he said, “I’m sorry for putting you in this dangerous situation, Violet. But I’m so proud of the brave, capable woman you’ve become. I have faith that you will keep a level head and lead Sullivan and his men astray until the sheriff can apprehend them.”
She smiled weakly, but to put her father at ease, she joked, “It sounds like I’ll be sleeping outdoors again tomorrow night.”
“You just need to buy us time tomorrow until the sheriff catches up with you,” he stressed. “Can you do that?”
“Of course,” Violet said. Well, what choice did she have?
Chapter Thirty-Five
FOUR DAYS. MORGAN THOUGHT that by now he would have found Violet—one way or another. He’d searched all the hotels and lodgings in Butte, checked the train station each day to make sure she hadn’t bought a ticket, spent half a day watching Shawn Sullivan’s house, though that had been a waste of time. And each day he returned to the wilderness to continue the search, south, north, even a day farther east.