Chapter 9: Shadows and Secrets

In my last life, the mutiny happened because a supervisor embezzled army rations. This time, I was determined to stop it at the root.

I’d always had a knack for business. Before marriage, I’d expanded the Franklin family’s pharmacies by six. Now, using the Harris family’s money and my dowry, I managed things in secret.

Through our Savannah shops, I launched a fabric business, circulated funds, planted triple-crop wheat on eight hundred acres, and set up grain shops to buy surplus from local farmers.

But the army needed more than I could supply.

Mrs. Murphy, from an official family, had a hero’s heart and was close with Colonel Jenkins. When I visited, she handed me a box of land deeds and cashier’s checks. "Colonel Jenkins said you’re trustworthy."

I had money, not enough goods.

I remembered Caleb Foster boasting about three major grain merchants who opened their warehouses for relief, blocking the Foster family’s profits. He’d wanted to ruin them.

I arranged meetings with these three merchants. When they learned I was Adam Harris’s wife and raising supplies for the front, they sold me the new harvest at rock-bottom prices.

"Keep this under wraps until the war’s over," one warned. "We don’t want trouble."

"Of course," I agreed.

Business done, I spotted a man in a baseball cap slipping toward the north section. Something about his back made my heart leap.

I sent my assistant away, pulled on a scarf, and followed.

The north section was dark and winding, doors closed tight. At the last house, I found the door half open, room silent.

My blood ran cold as I peeked inside.

Caleb Foster sprawled on a velvet couch, shirt undone, while a woman in a sheer robe fed him grapes, mouth to mouth.

The sight hit me like a bucket of cold river water—filthy, shocking, impossible to forget. I dropped the curtain fast.

"Who’s there!" Caleb barked.

I tried to bolt, but he caught up, yanking off my scarf. He looked startled to see me.

"You’ve got some nerve," I said, cold as ice.

He slowly buttoned his shirt, handing back the scarf. "Just now, what did you see?"

"Wrong turn. Saw nothing." I kept my face blank.

"Oh? You only realized you were lost after all that way? Natalie, this is the north section."

He meant more than he said.

From nearby rooms came muffled, indecent sounds. Even a fool would know what kind of place this was.

"Maybe you came to meet a lover?" His eyes glittered.

"If I wanted an affair, I’d pick a better place."

He smirked.

"Why not ask why I’m here?"

"None of my business."

He laughed. "True, it’s my fault. Don’t blame me."

"Any part of Maple Lane is a money pit. Major Harris’s salary won’t last. If you need help…"

"No thanks. I like earning my own way."

His look was all too familiar—last time, he saved a disgraced judge’s daughter from the brothel with a bag of cash, won her devotion, then handed her to a business partner when he got bored. She killed herself, and Caleb didn’t even cover her body.

"If you need anything, just ask."

Around us, guests came and went, servers weaving through the shadows.

Caleb wanted to avoid a scene, so he let me go.

I pulled my scarf on and hurried away, but slipped on the stairs and almost fell—until a strong hand caught my waist, steadying me.

I’d already caught myself, but the big hand turned me upright, fingers lingering on my hip.

It was the man in the baseball cap.

"Ma’am, watch your step." His voice was rough, face hidden by his cap and a black scarf.

"You… are you a guest?"

"Just a runner, hired to deliver something for a big client. I’ve got scars, so I keep covered up."

I lowered my eyes. "You look like my husband. I was afraid I’d made a mistake."

"Ma’am, you should leave. Don’t make your husband worry."

He was gone before I could answer.

Adam should be at Flagstaff. If he’s here, something’s gone wrong.

In the car, I replayed it all, heart pounding. At the alley’s end, I saw the man again, cap low, watching as my car pulled away. Only when we turned the corner did he vanish into the night.

If Adam was really here, hiding in the shadows, something was terribly wrong. I had to find out—before it was too late.