Flora's Wish by Kathleen Y'Barbo

to the general’s wife.”
    â€œYes, ma’am.” The maid curtseyed but remained in place.
    Flora looked up to see her staring, her expression oddly confused. “Is there anything else?”
    â€œNo, Miss Brimm,” she said as she hurried off. “I’ll see that your grandmother is given the message.”
    Only when the girl was gone did Flora realize that the handcuff she’d so carefully hidden had come loose from her sleeve and was dangling free. She hurried to the door, but the maid was gone.
    â€œOh, well,” she said under her breath. “Either Grandmama will come upstairs to set the situation to rights or I’ll be left alone until Mr. McMinn returns.”
    Neither option appealed.
    And yet she’d given her word to the clerk that she would remain in her suite until released by the lawman from her prison. She slid the folded page from her Bible and set the book aside.
    â€œUntil tomorrow,” she said softly.
    Once again, thinking of her wedding as an appointment set poorly with Flora. Knowledge that she might have traveled a few steps ahead of the Lord on her path toward marriage gave her too much to consider.
    She wandered into the sitting room. She would burn this piece of paper too, but knowing Mr. Tucker had somehow managed to place it in her Bible…
    Flora shook her head. How had he managed all of that? How could he have known she would find the pink bookmark on his ledge? That she would go to the Bible and find the note?
    Her finger traced the edge of the marble fireplace as she tried without success to fit the pieces together. Finally, she crumpled the note and threw it into the fire.
    Orange flames reflected against the cold silver of the handcuff as she watched the small piece of paper turn to ash. If Grandmama had been told about the handcuff, she’d likely arrive soon. If the maid chose to be discreet, Flora knew she would have a bit more time to await the Pinkerton agent.
    And if Will Tucker was the Lord’s choice for her, He would see that she and the railroad detective successfully repeated their vows. “Close this door if I’m not to walk through it,” she whispered even as she silently prayed that nothing would stop tomorrow morning’s wedding.

    Lucas stalked across the lobby toward the elevator, his temper rising with each step. He should have known the woman would talk her way out of the manager’s office. If he didn’t find her in her room, others beside Miss Brimm would pay the price.
    Starting with the deputy he’d hired to shadow her. It hadn’t helped much that the man had fallen ill. Lucas wouldn’t have had to leave the Natchez belle under such unprofessional care as the hotel desk clerk otherwise.
    Then there was Tucker. With no sign of him at the depot and a pair of deputies watching the roads in and out of town, there was little else Lucas could do to find the man today. At this point, his best option was to shadow Miss Brimm until tomorrow morning’s supposed wedding. If Tucker showed, he’d be jailed on the spot. If he didn’t, the next move would be to shadow Fatal Flora until she led the law to him.
    For as little as he knew about women, he could see that this one was protecting Tucker. Whether the affection was mutual would soon be apparent.
    Lucas stepped off the elevator and headed for the Brimm suite. Propriety demanded he bring along someone else as a chaperone, but at this point Lucas cared less for reputation than for getting the job of finding Will Tucker done. This was an investigation and not a social call. Investigations meant all bets were off when it came to reputations.
    And it was just as possible that Tucker had doubled back and was hiding in the Brimm rooms as it was that he’d hightailed it out of Eureka Springs.
    Lucas stopped in front of the door and drew in a long breath, letting it out slowly in hopes of diverting some of the aggravation that was