slid his suede driving gloves tight on his finger. “Tell that to the Studebaker Brothers. The New York Times said in two years they’ll be switching over all of their buggy manufacturing to the horseless variety. See if the rest of country doesn’t try to keep up, if they can catch them at thirty miles an hour.”
Liam shook his head and chuckled. “We can talk more about foolish business ventures over fine cigars and cognac at your party on Friday. You did bring a few boxes back from the Riviera, didn’t you?”
Bret smiled and surveyed the busy street. “The twentieth century is almost here, Liam, and it will present opportunities none of us ever could have imagined as children growing up in our little piece of heaven.”
As he lowered the goggles over his eyes, he remembered something his mother told him that his father was fond of saying. “The question is: Will we be ready as men to seize the day when the new morning dawns?” Bret yanked back on the brake lever, easing it slowly forward. The vehicle jerked and rolled ahead, its engine roaring louder by the moment.
Liam stepped aside and watched Bret turn in a semi-circle and drive back the way he’d arrived. He followed the plume of thick, dark gray smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe until the vehicle and turned south at the corner of 17th Avenue. Damn you, Bret. Why did you come back? He kicked a stone across the street. Just when Gabrielle was getting over you.
“They are indeed fascinating to watch, are they not, sir?”
The deep authority of a man’s voice startled Liam and made him twist around awkwardly. Liam looked at the stranger. The man was taller and a few years his senior judging by the lines at the corners of his eyes. It was hard to tell how much older because of his sinewy and lean appearance.
His dark brown hair had a shock of white running through it and was combed back behind his ears. Perhaps one of those health and exercise fanatics that descended on Galveston every summer? How could they vacation in Texas and not want to eat the best steak in the country?
The man straightened the lapels of his trim, light blue suit that seemed perfectly tailored over a strong, taut rack of muscle and bones.
“Why, yes, fascinating, indeed,” Liam agreed out of politeness, “but more the devil’s handiwork than man’s, I think.”
The stranger smiled, his teeth unnaturally white. “Many people said the same of the electric light. Emotional reaction will always be replaced by disciplined reason, and the progress of humanity is always furthered during its periods of scientific enlightenment. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Something about the stranger’s ruddy skin and pointed features made Liam think of someone he’d seen before, however briefly. “Do I know you from somewhere, sir? A mutual acquaintance perhaps?”
The stranger tilted back the brim of his hat. His large black eyes were deep and unfathomable, giving a quiet, stern demeanor to his gaze. “Forgive me. I’ve taken enough of your time. I should very much like to discuss this further, Mister?”
“Ahh, Dawson, Liam Dawson.” He shook the stranger’s surprisingly strong hand.
“Of course. Mr. Liam Dawson, of the Fort Worth Dawsons, of cattle and cotton fame, I presume?”
“Why yes. And you?”
“My card, sir. Please call me at your earliest convenience if you wish to discuss topics that will prove beneficial to both you and your colleagues.” The man lowered the brim of his hat, shading his eyes again. “Good day, Mr. Dawson.”
Liam held the card in his hand as he watched the stranger disappear into the morning crowd on 25th Street. The man’s intrusive familiarity coupled with the stiff formality of his exit struck Liam as disconcerting to say the least. He raised the card to rip it in two when the name in black ink sent a quick nip of frost up his back.
Caden Augustus Hellreich, Ph.D. Doctor of Theogenesis
Liam whistled as he blew his breath out and tucked the card into his vest pocket. If Arley Caldwell was big on this fella, there might be something more to him.
He admired his reflection in the front window of Weems’s Dry Goods and adjusted his tie. Satisfied with his appearance, he stepped inside and asked the female clerk if he could use the telephone.
Gabrielle was certain to be home by now.
CHAPTER 5
Sunday, August 26
Light rain splattered against the open window next to the dressing table where Gabrielle Caldwell primped for church. With a