Maybe Loyolla Banks would have some idea where Georgina might have gone after she left there.
The servant ushered Daniel into the mayor's office. He stood, frowning, looking pointedly at his pocket watch as Daniel entered.
"I won't keep you for a minute, sir, but my wife was here earlier, and she hasn't come home yet. Is Mrs. Banks available? I thought Georgina might have told her where she was going."
The mayor frowned. "Your wife, Mr. Martin? I wasn't aware that you were married. Mrs. Banks is visiting a sickbed at the moment. I fail to understand why Georgina Hanover would know where your wife went, but she won't be able to help you now. Georgina's had some crisis of the nerves like her mother some years ago. They're taking her to the sanitarium as we speak."
Daniel's weak leg nearly gave out from under him, and he grabbed the desk's edge just in time to keep from falling.
"The sanitarium, sir? What sanitarium?"
"Don't rightly know. You'll have to ask Dr. Ralph. It's some place out in Illinois, I believe. I know the train to Chicago just left, and they were on it."
As a man in a daze, Daniel thanked the mayor politely and wandered out. They were sending Georgina to a sanitarium. Beautiful, bright, flighty Miss Merry—his wife.
Damn, but it looked like he and Papa Hanover would have to have a come-to-Jesus meeting—right after he rescued Georgina.
Chapter 20
Fearing the excess of blood raging through his brain would make him incoherent, Daniel dashed to the railroad station, again cursing his parsimony in not buying a horse. He had to have been mad to come north to the civilized environs that used carriages on city streets. He had no use for carriages, but his leg had little use for walking. He needed a horse.
Pain shot through his cramped leg muscles as he reached the ticket office and leaned against the counter. "When did the train to Chicago leave?" he demanded of the startled clerk.
The man checked the big clock on the wall. "Twenty minutes ago. There's not another out until tomorrow morning."
This couldn't be happening. Daniel shut his eyes and tried to think clearly. He opened them again an instant later when another thought occurred to him. "Were the Hanovers on it? I was supposed to meet them here."
The clerk pulled a long face. "They certainly were. Mr. Mulloney gave them his private car. Sad story, isn't is? Poor Miss Georgina, she was always a smiling mite. Darned pity she had to inherit that condition from her mother. Goes to show that money can't buy everything, don't it?"
Money could buy a damned lot. Grinding his teeth, Daniel tried to think what to do next. The livery. He had to find a horse. He swung back to the ticket clerk. "What route does that train take? It's not direct, is it?"
The clerk checked his schedule. "That one goes back to Cincinnati tonight. Then it changes and heads north again toward Indianapolis. If you were to take a buggy straight across from here, you could probably catch up to it around Brookville or somewheres, if that's what you've a mind to do."
That's what he had a mind to do. Before he could put his plan into action, however, he heard his name called from the other end of the platform. Annoyed at the interruption, prepared to ignore it and go on, he started away from the office in the opposite direction.
"Damn you, Daniel, if you leave us stranded here at this hour, I'll come after you with a whip!"
With a sudden impossible flare of hope, Daniel swung around to watch the elegantly attired couple hurrying toward him. One sailed along in a skirt that swept the dusty platform in ruffles and a hat that skimmed the air with a bushel of roses and feathers. The one carrying an enormous satchel wore a fawn suit tailored to fit broad shoulders and narrow hips to perfection and guaranteed to attract the notice of all eyes in the sea of dark suits surrounding him. Tyler and Evie.
"Oh lord, you're a sight for sore eyes." Forgetting the state of his bruised face, Daniel hurried to pump Tyler's free hand and grab Evie in a hug that left her breathless and wide-eyed. "But I don't have time to greet you proper. My wife's been kidnapped and I'm about to go after her. You'll have to put up at the hotel until I can get back."
He was already hurrying in the direction of