After several minutes of complete silence, he’d begun to believe he’d been abandoned. But then a slight shift in a nearby floorboard told him someone was standing at the window looking outside.
Only a minute later, faint footsteps in the stairwell and hallway had told him Theresa was returning. She came in and spoke in hushed tones to a man she called Splash. Every word they’d spoken had frozen Tom’s blood. An accomplice was in the process of driving Victoria away to “dispose” of her. After the deed was done, the man they referred to as Butch would return under cover of darkness and help Splash get rid of Tom.
In the meantime, Splash had been charged with watching Tom and making sure he didn’t escape while Theresa boarded the steamer with Nathaniel. Tom had no doubt she’d come up with a plausible excuse for why Victoria had abandoned Nathaniel once again.
Tom had wanted to roar in protest. But he’d held himself motionless until well after Theresa had left. From the way Splash’s stomach had growled, Tom had figured it was only a matter of time before the man decided to go get something to eat.
He’d been right. From the moment Splash had left the hotel, Tom had begun the trek across the room to the door. Now his time was running out. Splash would be back soon. Theresa had indicated in her hurried whisper that she wouldn’t give the men their final payments until she knew for sure they’d rowed out to the middle of the bay and dropped him overboard too.
Too.
Every time he thought about the word, his panic mounted. What if at that very moment, Butch was in the process of forcing Victoria into a boat and rowing her out into the bay?
Tom propelled his body forward. He attempted to drag the chair further this time. It scraped noisily. But it only moved another inch. The panic pumping through every muscle wouldn’t let him give up. He’d already crossed most of the distance from the side corner where he’d been shoved out of sight. Once he reached the door, he could bang it. Hopefully the noise would alert someone to his predicament.
Oh, God, his heart cried. Help me so that I can help her. Of course, God had no reason to listen to his pleas. He hadn’t been on speaking terms with God for years. After what had happened with Ike and his mom, he figured God hadn’t wanted to hear from him. Even if an all-loving God still loved him, he wasn’t worthy of that love. Not after all the destruction he’d caused.
It hadn’t mattered what his mom had told him, hadn’t mattered that she didn’t blame him or that she was supposedly at peace over all that had transpired. He held himself responsible and would until the day he died.
He didn’t deserve God’s grace for himself, but he wanted it for Victoria. “God,” he silently pleaded again, “get me out of here on time so that I can save her.” He’d do anything for her, even beg and bargain with God.
He paused in his efforts and sucked in a breath. Fifteen inches left. At the pounding of shoes on the stairway at the end of the hall, he rocked harder. Only seconds left until Splash returned. Now he wouldn’t be able to alert anyone for help. But at least he could block the door and prevent Splash from coming back inside and knocking him unconscious again. Or killing him.
Tom pushed forward. Urgency and frustration spurred him on. He had to buy himself more time to figure out another plan.
The footsteps started down the hallway.
He gave a final desperate lunge. But the chair began to tip. He had no way of stopping it or bracing himself for the impact. He twisted as much as he could, and his shoulder hit the door. The impact jarred his wounds. Blackness filled his vision. He blinked hard. He had to stay conscious for Victoria’s sake.
He’d already failed her by letting down his guard with Theresa. He should have been more careful, should have been more alert, should have known this would happen.
“You can’t know everything, Tommy.” Ike’s calm words rose into his conscience. “You think you can figure out every detail. But some things are beyond our control.”
Ike had been shivering in the back of the Confederate wagon, wet and exposed to the wind and rain when he’d spoken those words. The piles of stinking Confederate corpses next to them had