“He did,” LeRoy said. “And no one’s seen or heard from him since the day you went missing, too.”
“No other agents.” Henry laid his hand on the folder. “But I bet men in Burrows’s organization know exactly where he’s at.
“Elkin got scared when Rex Gaynor’s case was reopened,” Henry said. “I saw it on his face the day you mentioned the passenger manifesto from the train while briefing the rest of the team on this assignment. He thought the case was too old, that no one would care about Gaynor.”
LeRoy nodded. “I agree. That’s why I pulled you aside, and we came up with the plan of you pretending to be Gaynor.”
Henry’s mind was still whirling. “Or maybe it was exactly what he’d wanted. The case to be reopened so he could be here, fake his own death, and become a mob boss instead of an FBI agent. There’s definitely more money in it.” Henry shook his head, still not sure of Elkin’s motive. “The question is why? Something had to have happened to make him start leaking information, and something had to have happened to make him decide it was time to fully switch sides.”
LeRoy rubbed his gray handlebar mustache. “Sounds like you’re on the right track.”
“I need to talk to Lane Cox, find out if there were any major prohibition busts along the coast.” Henry’s mind instantly shot to Betty. Actually, she’d been there the whole time; it was the list she’d compiled and the night she’d given it to him that became front and center.
“Lane Cox,” LeRoy said. “He was with Bob and Jacob, helped them arrest Burrows that night.”
Henry nodded. He knew Lane wouldn’t have stopped until that happened, and getting the information on prohibition busts this past year would be faster than going through the bureaucracy of interagency sharing.
“He also got married yesterday.”
Shocked, Henry asked, “Lane did?”
“Yes, to one of William Dryer’s daughters.”
Henry’s spine stiffened. “Patsy?”
“Yes. You’ve met her?”
He nodded. “I’ve met all three of Dryer’s daughters.”
“Good, then you already know who they are.”
Henry had to swallow twice because of how dry his throat had gone. “Why?”
“Think about it, Henry. With you dead, Lane Cox is the only one who could identify Elkin and Elkin isn’t going to let that happen.”
Henry rubbed his forehead. “Damn.”
“Lane knows Elkin worked on that case seven years ago.”
Henry shook his head. “But he doesn’t know I was after Elkin.”
“No, but Elkin does, and he knows Lane helped Jacob and Bob bust Burrows. Lane’s wife was there, too.”
Images were flashing through Henry’s mind of all three girls sneaking out, walking through dark yards, down quiet roads. “They are all in danger,” he said. “The entire Dryer family.”
LeRoy nodded.
“What’s our plan?”
LeRoy stood and carried his coffee cup to where a silver pot was sitting atop a rolling tray. After refilling the cup, he took a drink of it while walking back to the table.
Henry’s nerves were pounding, his mind swirling, and waiting for his supervisor’s answer was torturing him.
“Your uncle wants me to pull you off this case.”
“No!” Henry leaped to his feet. “No.”
“I told him you’d say that.”
“We need men,” Henry said. “Need their house guarded.”
LeRoy shook his head. “On a hunch? I can’t do that. Not even your uncle can do that. Elkin could be dead. He could have been shanghaied like you. We need proof, Henry. Proof that he’s the mole, then I can have men here.”
Henry ran both hands through his hair. The images were still flashing through his head. “Then I’ll get it. Find him.” Henry wished he had more of a plan, but knew it would come. It had to.
“Well, you’re the man to catch him.” LeRoy slapped the envelope of cash he’d set on the table earlier. “If this isn’t enough, let me know. I’ve been authorized to give you anything you need, and there’s no limit. Time or money, but you’re on your own, until you can give me proof. I wish it wasn’t that way, but it is.”
Henry nodded, and heaved out a long sigh. He’d taken pride in being a top agent for years, in being the one people knew they could count on, but right now, it gutted him to know the stakes of this case were the highest he’d ever known.
LeRoy stood and stretched his arms over his head. “I’m not looking forward to the train ride back to Texas. I swear those seats get harder and the trip gets longer every time I take it. There’s no sleeping on those things.”
“Why don’t you spend the night, leave in the morning, so you get some sleep,” Henry suggested, even though his mind was elsewhere. On Betty.
“Can’t,” LeRoy said. “I have to leave town before Elkin knows I was here. Besides that, I promised the wife I’d be home by tomorrow night.” LeRoy put on his jacket.
“I’ll give you a ride,” Henry said.
“No. Can’t chance you being seen with me,” LeRoy said. “There’s a car waiting for me. This room’s paid as long as you need it—whether you decide to use it or not is up to you.” As they shook hands, LeRoy added, “Good luck. I know it’s not much, but I’m only a phone call away.”
Chapter Seven
“Do you need any help in there?” Jane asked through the closed bathroom door.
“No,” Betty replied. It was so soft Jane probably hadn’t heard her.
“I could curl your hair for you,” Jane said.
Betty didn’t want her hair curled. She wanted—Her stomach erupted as she braced herself as everything she’d eaten that day forced its way up, out, and into the toilet, yet again.
The door opened, and she had no choice but to look at her sister as Jane knelt down beside her.
“It’s not that bad,” Jane said soothingly. “It’s only a date.”
Betty shook her head before she had to hang it over the toilet again. She’d been
