Train From Marietta by Dorothy Garlock Page A

and with shaking hands, John pulled a scrap of paper from his coat pocket and passed it across the desk to his partner.
    “What’s this?” William glanced at it and jumped to his feet. His fists clenched and his voice bellowed. “What the hell is this?”
    “They’ve got my Kate,” John said hoarsely.
    “What do you mean they’ve got your Kate? Kidnapped her?” William asked with disbelief in his voice.
    John Tyler sat immobile in the office chair. It was obvious that he was physically and emotionally exhausted. William had to strain to hear him; his words were little more than whispers. “That’s what the note says, William. They want a hundred thousand dollars.”
    “A hundred thousand dollars?” William echoed as incredulously as he could manage. “Maybe this is a prank. Some sort of a joke.”
    “I’m afraid it’s all too real,” John answered, going on to explain how Kate’s messages from her trip had stopped.
    “Damn it all! What in the hell is the world coming to? It isn’t safe for decent people to travel anymore,” William said as he pounded his fist down onto the desktop.
    “Since the Lindbergh baby was taken, there’s been a rash of kidnappings. You read about this sort of thing all the time now.”
    William stepped from behind the desk and paced the floor in front of the window. The storm seemed to be growing in intensity. “The crooks have found a way to get easy money. Damn it all! I hate to think of our Kate in the hands of scoundrels.”
    John pinched the space between his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. He sighed. “I’ve been worried sick about this, William. I can’t eat and I haven’t slept a wink since I received the letter. I knew I had to do something, but I didn’t know what. Kate’s always been my special girl. The kidnappers must have known it.”
    “You know how I feel about Kate, John. I love her as if she were my own daughter.” William paused, trying to choose his words carefully. There were things he had to find out, things that only John himself could tell him, but he couldn’t rush it. He had to squeeze them out of him. “It’s no secret that I had high hopes for her and Edwin making a match of it, but it seems it will be Edwin and Susie instead. Speaking of which, have you told your family?”
    “I told Lila, but I decided not to tell Susie until this is all over. I don’t want her to worry.”
    “This is outrageous!” William exclaimed. He exhaled sharply and dropped heavily down into his chair. “If I could get my hands on the sons a bitches who did this, by God, I’d not have any trouble ending their miserable lives!”
    The men sat silently, the only noise the steady drum of the rain as it beat on the windowpanes. William looked at his business partner and wondered what he would think if he knew that the mastermind behind his daughter’s kidnapping was sitting not three feet away. He asked, “Do you have any idea who would do such a thing?”
    “Who knows who it could be?” John exclaimed. “The houses we live in make it obvious that we have money. Someone must have decided that they wanted some of mine.”
    “You’re right.”
    “I just want my daughter back,” John muttered, looking down at his hands.
    William knew that it was time to ask the most important question of all. Softly he asked it. “Are you going to pay the ransom?”
    “Of course, I’m going to pay. They can have every dime I have or can rake up if it means I can get Kate back.” John looked up with eyes that were red and moist, but coolly determined. “I’ve thought about it, William, and I’m not certain I’ll get her back even after I pay the money. Why would they let her go? So I have done the only thing I could think of to do. I contacted a friend in the Texas Rangers.”
    “What?” William blurted out before he could catch himself.
    “If there’s anyone who can find her, it would be Lyle Holmgaard. You remember, he helped us when we had that shipment