to his chest. “Drop the rifle too.”
Shoulders slumped, the middle-aged watchman obeyed and lifted his hands in surrender. Voices and a scuffling sound—the other watchman was disarmed too.
Taylor pointed to the roof.
Gene and Ruby shimmied up palm trees. At the top, they swayed back and forth and jumped to the roof. Then they pointed their rifles out over the street.
McKillop and Holman escorted their prisoner to Taylor.
The lieutenant pulled his handie-talkie radio from the case on his back and pulled out the antenna. “Taylor to Rudder. City Hall secure.”
“What have you done with my daughter?” The first sentry’s voice warbled.
“Your daughter?” Lieutenant Taylor asked.
The man’s face agitated. “She’s only seventeen, and one of your men made off with her.”
Clay frowned. The Rangers hadn’t had an hour free since they arrived.
“Sir, our men haven’t set foot in town until tonight,” Lieutenant Taylor said. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“Peggy went to the movies with her girlfriends on Saturday night, and she went home alone. Only she never came home.”
“Have you reported this to the police?” Taylor slung his Tommy gun over his shoulder.
The man pressed a trembling hand to his forehead, dislodging his helmet. “They think she ran away, but not my Peggy. She’d never do that.”
“I’m sorry this happened, sir.” Taylor had a soothing voice when he wanted to. “All our men are accounted for, but I’ll report the situation to our commanding officer and the commander of the school.”
“Thank you.” He sagged back against the stucco wall.
Holman and McKillop sauntered away, and Clay followed. Time to form a perimeter.
Shouts rang out around town, and radios squawked. Sounded like the Rangers were taking their military objectives.
“Bet I know what happened to that girl,” Holman muttered to McKillop. “One of those sailor boys knocked her up, and she went to ‘visit an aunt’ for nine months.”
Clay stopped in his tracks. How could he talk about a girl in such a callous way? A girl like Leah. Had this Peggy found herself in a predicament like Leah’s, with disgrace or exile as her only choices?
Clay breathed out a prayer for Peggy and her family, and another prayer of thanks that God had let him help Leah.
17
CAMP FORREST
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1943
Rita Sue drove her pickup truck down Forrest Boulevard into camp. “Any news from Clay?”
“Just yesterday.” Leah ran a finger under the waistband of her skirt. Tonight she’d let it out another inch. Thank goodness she wasn’t showing yet. “His battalion left Florida. The school said they were the best unit they’d ever had. In the final exercise they took Fort Pierce by storm.”
Leah didn’t mention how the Rangers had taken Fort Pierce by storm the following evening on leave—a night of drunkenness and brawling. The entire battalion had been confined to quarters for the rest of their stay, even those who had behaved, like Clay and G. M.
“Where’s he going next?” Rita Sue waved a jeep through at the intersection.
“Fort Dix in New Jersey for advanced tactical training.” She spoke slowly to get the term correct. “He’s excited about it.”
“I’m glad he’s doing well.” Rita Sue pulled the truck in front of the library, stepped out, and flagged down a trio of soldiers. “Excuse me, gentlemen. Could y’all lend us a hand, please? We could use a few pairs of strong arms.”
The soldiers brightened. “Sure, ma’am.”
“Thank you. Please carry these boxes inside for Mrs. Paxton.”
Leah gave them an awkward smile, feeling inappropriately empty-handed. Even though she was three months along in her pregnancy, the time most ladies made their announcements, Leah had to wait another month.
She waved good-bye to Rita Sue and held the door open for the men. “Thank you, gentlemen. Please set them on the circulation desk.”
Miss Mayhew approached from the card catalog. “Oh my! Isn’t this wonderful?”
Leah thanked the soldiers and opened the first box. “I’m only partway through the Victory Book Campaign collection. More will be coming.”
“I’ll take anything I can. The Army prefers the Armed Services Editions, but those only go to the troops overseas. Here in the States, we’ve depended on the VBC to supplement our purchases. But the Army cut that off.”
Leah stacked books on the desk. “Such a shame.”
Miss Mayhew inspected a copy of William L. Shirer’s Berlin Diary. “Has the library in town decided what to do with the books we don’t want? It’s criminal to scrap them.”
“We received permission to do with them as we please. I’m determined to find good homes for them.”
Miss Mayhew rested one hand on the desk and