The Night of the Moving Wound, 6/?
Title: The Night of the Moving Wound, chapter six
Fandom: The Wild Wild West
Rating: T/PG-13
Word Count: 3,239
Main Characters: Jim West, Artemus Gordon, James Jeffers, Betsy Jeffers, Dr. Loveless, Antoinette
Summary: Everyone begins to awaken in Dr. Loveless's compound.
Fanfiction.net Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8264755/6/
Chapter Six
It wasn’t really much of a surprise when Jim began to awaken and found that he was strapped to a slab. When he was on assignment, it seemed as though he spent a great deal of his time strapped to slabs, beds, walls, and other, sometimes stranger, objects. Before ejecting his hidden knife to cut himself loose, he opted to examine his current surroundings.
Clearly he was in what must be Dr. Loveless’s new laboratory. There were tables with vials and bubbling chemicals and unidentified objects in jars. A strange box at the end of the slab was covered with a cloth. And standing nearby was Dr. Loveless himself, grinning with a Cheshire cat grin.
“Ah, Mr. West, you’re awake,” he greeted. “It’s been a while.”
“Dr. Loveless,” Jim mumbled in return. “I should have realized you were the real mastermind behind the boll weevil infestation. I considered it, but I thought it was too insane even for you.”
“Oh come now, Mr. West. It’s brilliant.” Loveless spoke with wicked pride. “Especially my hybrid boll weevils. Then, eventually, I will have not only the world’s cotton, but the world’s food supplies, entirely at my command.”
“Forgive me, but I thought the hybrid boll weevils were the Syndicate’s creation,” Jim said.
Now Loveless’s eyes flamed. “They stole the idea from me!” he ranted. “And they forcefully removed me from their ranks. I barely escaped with my life! That was when I devised the scheme of setting up contact with them through Mr. Jeffers’ double, whom I was fortunate enough to find wandering around in Nevada.”
“And so you intended to eventually seize control of not only your hybrids, but the Syndicate as well,” Jim said.
“Then they would have regretted casting me off,” Loveless fumed. “But that stupid man had to decide to break ties with me and go his own way. He even killed Tom Cass when he thought his operation was going to be discovered.”
“And then he was killed by Tucker,” Jim rejoined. “Did Tucker know there was a double?”
“He wasn’t sure,” Loveless said. “We arranged it so that our Mr. Jeffers never did business with him or the Syndicate from his office.”
“Naturally,” Jim said. “You couldn’t have the real Mr. Jeffers finding out, if you didn’t want to get rid of him yet. And he would have found out, if strange people were seen going in and out of his office when he wasn’t even there.”
“Exactly. So the double contacted them only in certain locations. It was probably when Tom Cass went to the office and found our Mr. Jeffers scrounging around that the fool decided it was too dangerous to keep Mr. Cass alive. He didn’t want word getting back to the genuine article.”
“That’s quite a cozy situation you had, until he spoiled it,” Jim said.
“Ah, but all is not lost, Mr. West. Once I have the formula in the envelope he took from me, I will be able to enact the next phase of my plan!”
Jim kept his expression impassive. “And what’s that, exactly?”
“I always kept some of the boll weevils for myself,” Loveless said. “The Syndicate never got them all. And I have mine right here in this compound. They just need the formula to grow big and strong. Then it will be time to release them on America’s crops!”
“So you really just have one problem,” Jim said. “What if Betsy won’t tell you where it is?”
Loveless just smiled. “Oh, I think she will, Mr. West. To save her father, I’m sure she would be willing to sacrifice a field of cotton.”
“Not to mention corn, wheat, and barley,” Jim deadpanned.
“And there’s really no telling what else these hybrids might develop a taste for,” Loveless said.
“Let’s just hope it’s not people.”
Loveless shook his head. “Mr. West, you have a sick mind.” He crossed the room to the covered box and pulled off the cloth. “Behold, the little insects that will help me conquer the world!”
Jim stared, horrified and transfixed all at once. Inside the glass case, the boll weevils were crawling in every direction-on the floor, up the walls, across the ceiling, and over each other. It was a fairly large container, but it was still too small for their numbers.
“Fascinating, aren’t they, Mr. West?” Loveless grinned.
“They have a certain hypnotic effect,” Jim said. “Just when are you planning to set them loose?”
“As soon as I have the formula,” Loveless said as he replaced the covering. “It doesn’t take long to work. So I would say that before the night is over, America’s crops will be in danger.” He headed for the door and entered the hall. “You won’t be able to stop me this time, Mr. West!”
Left behind, Jim struggled against the straps. Loveless knew very well about at least some of Jim’s stash of secret weapons by now; he had seen to it that Jim could not easily bring out any of them. For the moment, he was stranded.
Oh well, he thought dryly to himself, glancing at the covered box, at least I’m not alone in here.
****
There were few things as disconcerting as waking up in a cage. Particularly if you were someone who had never been in dangerous situations before. And waking up in a cage, tied to someone else behind your back, was an especially strange and surreal experience.
“What the . . .” James Jeffers’ eyes flew open as he began to adjust to the scenario. Underneath him, the large cage was slowly rocking back and forth. The floor of what looked like another laboratory seemed far below.
“Welcome back to the world of the living, Mr. Jeffers.”
Jeffers tried to look over his shoulder. “Mr. Gordon?”
Arte gave a weary nod. “Dr. Loveless seemed to think it would be fun to tie us up together. Heaven knows where Jim is.”
“And what about Betsy and Karen?!” Jeffers exclaimed in horror.
“Oh, Loveless usually treats women quite well,” said Arte. “You probably don’t have to worry too much about them just yet. I imagine that they’re each reclining on a nice, soft bed about now, sleeping off the last effects of that gas.”
“What about when they wake up?” The apprehension in Jeffers’ voice was clear. And certainly not unfounded.
“Well . . .” Arte hesitated. “He still wants that envelope, you know. By now he’s probably given up on you and will go to Betsy directly.”
That was what Jeffers had been afraid of. He struggled against the bonds. “We have to get out of this!” he cried. “Don’t you and Mr. West carry around an arsenal of newfangled tools?”
“Yes, we do,” Arte said slowly. “The problem is, it’s a little difficult to reach any of them right now.”
“Where are they?” Jeffers flexed his fingers. “I could try to reach something.”
Arte pondered for only a moment. Their hands were somewhat free below the tightly wound rope, but could only reach backwards. Arte had no access to his own pockets. But Jeffers might.
“That might actually work,” he declared. “Anyway, we have to try something. Alright, there’s a small metal cigar case in my left pants pocket . . . unless Dr. Loveless removed it.”
Jeffers strained, trying to maneuver his right hand into something that felt like a pocket. “What’s in this case?” he asked. “I’m assuming it’s not really cigars.”
“It isn’t,” Arte replied. “It’s . . . well, let’s just say it’s a special invention of mine. A couple of them, actually. One of them is a rather sticky substance that doubles as an explosive. We can use that for the door. But to get ourselves free first . . .” He gave an uneasy chuckle. “That might be somewhat of a problem. Unless you’re willing to try setting the rope on fire.”
Jeffers stiffened in shock. “What?! We’d both be burned!”
“It takes a lot of practice to do it without that happening,” Arte admitted.
Jeffers was not pleased. “I’ve got the case,” he announced after a moment. “But if the rope has to be set on fire, will you be able to take care of that, Mr. Gordon?”
“I think so,” Arte replied. He felt around until his fingers touched the case. “I just have to manage to open the case.”
“I should be able to help with that,” Jeffers said.
“Why, thank you, Mr. Jeffers. I was about to ask.”
It was a difficult task. Each could only put one hand on the box. And while one tried to hold it steady with a hand bent backwards, the other tried to open it with one likewise. The rocking cage did not make it easier. But somehow the men succeeded in opening it together and Arte reached for the device he wanted.
“This doesn’t start just any fire,” he informed Jeffers. “It’s a slow-acting fire, so we’ll have time to break the ropes and stomp it out before it becomes serious.”
“. . . That’s good to know,” Jeffers said, albeit clearly unconvinced.
“Oh, and watch your clothes. I lost a few shirts while I was testing this baby out.”
“What about skin?” Jeffers returned, not really in jest.
“I might have lost a little bit of that, too,” Arte admitted.
Jeffers shut his eyes in dismay.
Arte soon had the rope in flames. Jeffers came to attention and stared, rigid against the Secret Service agent, as the fire traveled along the course of the rope.
“. . . It’s as if the rope is a fuse,” Jeffers noted.
“I know,” Arte said with definite pride. “It will just stay on the rope, unless something else catches on it.”
“It’s not going to blow up if it makes it to the end of the rope, is it?” Jeffers dryly asked.
“Certainly not,” Arte said. “But we won’t let it get that far anyway.
“Alright!” he said suddenly. “Strain against the ropes with all your might. They should snap now.”
Jeffers was more than willing to obey. As he and Arte both strained, the coil tore free.
“Yes! Oh yes!” Arte exclaimed, getting to his feet. Jeffers stood with him, stamping on the flickering flames as he rose. Arte assisted, before picking up his sticky substance and placing it over the lock on the cage.
“I’m going to set the fuse for this now,” he said. “Stand back.”
Jeffers needed no coaxing. He stood near the opposite side of the cage. “Won’t Loveless hear this and come running?” he frowned.
“Perhaps,” Arte tossed over his shoulder. Lighting the fuse, he stepped back to wait. “But he’s probably expecting us to escape. And at the moment he might be more interested in Betsy. He wants that envelope.”
“Well, he’s not going to have it. Or Betsy,” Jeffers fumed.
The door blew open, sending the cage wildly reeling from side to side. Jeffers gasped, grabbing the bars to keep from falling. Having half-expected it, Arte calmly took hold of another. As the cage settled down, Arte let go and hurried to the doorway, Jeffers right on his heels. Arte jumped to the floor, quickly followed by the harbour commissioner.
“Where do you think these ‘nice, soft beds’ are, Mr. Gordon?” Jeffers asked.
Arte pondered, brushing the dust off of his hands while he walked. “If we’re downstairs, then I might say we should check upstairs first,” he said.
“Fine,” Jeffers said with a curt nod. “Let’s do it.”
But as they approached the door, Jeffers’ gruff demeanor faded and he gave Arte a half-smile. “You’re handy to have around, Mr. Gordon. I’m glad I’m on your side.”
Arte reached for the doorknob. “You and me both, Mr. Jeffers. One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do was to tell Betsy about your supposed criminal activities. Especially your involvement in her kidnapping.”
Jeffers flinched. “I hate to think how she must have looked.”
Arte turned the knob and eased the door open enough to glance up and down the apparently empty corridor beyond it. “She was broken up, to say the very least. But I thought she was going to accept it.” He looked back before he walked out of the room. “Was I ever wrong. And it’s a good thing, too. Mr. Jeffers, I know I don’t need to say how lucky you are to have a daughter who continues to believe in you, even when the situation looks hopeless.”
“No, you don’t need to say it,” Jeffers said, clearly humbled. “Believe me, Mr. Gordon, I know.” He followed Arte into the hallway. “I can’t believe all of this was going on right under my nose and I didn’t know it. No one other than Betsy could have believed in me, with the deck stacked against me that seriously.” He regarded Arte with curiosity. “Was it Betsy who convinced you and Mr. West that I wasn’t responsible for what happened in Tucker’s warehouse?”
“I have to say, it wasn’t, Mr. Jeffers,” Arte confessed. “We thought more seriously about the possibility, but I don’t think I was convinced until you suddenly appeared at your sister’s house and explained it all to us.
“Jim was actually the first of us to start putting the pieces together.”
“And how did he do that?” Jeffers kept his voice low as they walked, staying alert for Loveless or his lackeys. This had been too easy so far. From what he had seen of Loveless, he doubted such a calculating madman would just let them walk away. And that made him concerned for what else might be in store.
“Well, if you can believe it, Sir, it was because of the injury you sustained when Betsy was kidnapped.” Arte tapped the left side of his head.
Jeffers rocked back. “Excuse me?!”
“You see, your villainous twin made one small mistake,” Arte said. “He wasn’t injured, of course, and when he took your place he put the bandage on the wrong side of his head. Maybe he was looking in a mirror and forgot everything was reversed. But anyway, Jim was there when you were hurt, and he started remembering about the mixed-up bandages.”
“And that was all it took?” Jeffers said in amazement.
“To start the investigation, yes,” said Arte. “Then we went to your sister’s house and found that Betsy still insisted on believing in you.”
“Incredible,” Jeffers breathed.
“Jim isn’t the Secret Service’s most trusted agent without good reason,” Arte said. “Of course, had I been there when you were hurt, I’m sure I would’ve realized the truth as well.”
“Of course,” Jeffers agreed. “I’m sure you would have.”
They continued down the hall, only growing tenser with the lack of guards or traps. What was Loveless up to?
****
Betsy groaned as consciousness began to seep into her senses. “Daddy?” she mumbled. There was no answer. But . . . he had been there, hadn’t he? And he had told her that he had never been involved in the boll weevil plot?
It hadn’t all been a wonderful dream. It couldn’t have been!
Slowly she opened her eyes. In the next moment she gasped. She was not in her room at home or at Aunt Karen’s! It was a beautiful bedroom, well-furnished and filled with every type of material things she could want, but it was a room she had never seen before.
“Where am I?!” she gasped.
A strange woman crossed the room, placing a silver tea tray next to the bed. “You’re at Dr. Loveless’s compound,” she announced. “He sent me in to see if you were awake yet. I’m Antoinette.”
“Dr. Loveless?!” Betsy sat up straight. “Then it wasn’t just a dream! Daddy is alive! And he is innocent!”
“Of course he is.” Antoinette poured a cup of tea. “Here. This should help steady your nerves. The gas sometimes has a lingering trembling effect.”
Betsy took it. Her hands were indeed shaking, but she attributed it more to her excitement rather than the gas. “Where is he now?” she demanded. “He’s alright, isn’t he?!”
“He hasn’t been hurt,” Antoinette said. “But Dr. Loveless wants to see you before you go to your father.”
“Why?” Betsy frowned, sipping the tea. “What does he want with me?” Her eyes flashed. “As if I’d be willing to give him anything after he spirited both me and my father away.”
“He has a proposal for you,” Antoinette said. “I’ll let him tell you himself.” She went back to the door and stepped into the hall. “She’s awake, Miguelito,” she announced.
“Thank you, my dear,” came a familiar voice. Dr. Miguelito Loveless stepped into the room in the next moment.
Betsy set the teacup aside. “Dr. Loveless, I want to see my father!” she declared.
Loveless shut the door. “Yes, Miss Jeffers, I know you do. But I just so happened to be in the middle of a little transaction with him before he spoke to you and Mr. Gordon. He told you all about the envelope I want, didn’t he?”
“He didn’t want you to get it,” Betsy shot back. “So I don’t intend to hand it over, either.”
Loveless’s eyes flashed. “Your father just doesn’t understand why I want it!” he cried. “No one understands! I’m trying to better this cold, cruel world.”
“By allowing boll weevils to eat it up?!” Betsy exclaimed.
Loveless gripped the cane he sometimes used. “Once the world’s population turns to me to buy their food and cotton, I’ll be able to make everything over for the better! There won’t be any starvation. Everyone will have more than enough to eat. And to wear. The world will be far more prosperous than it is right now. And it will be a world without greed and violence and hatred!”
“All everyone has to do is accept you as the king over the world. Is that it?” Betsy snapped.
“A king isn’t a bad thing, Miss Jeffers,” Loveless said. “Not if he knows what’s best for his subjects!”
Betsy crossed her arms. “Well, after what I’ve seen of your methods, I don’t think you do know what’s best. You got Daddy into a horrible mess with that awful double! His reputation is in shreds!”
“That was regrettable. But it can be mended.” Loveless came closer, his eyes aflame from the ideas floating through his mind. “Miss Jeffers, I’m offering you a chance to be part of this historic event.”
“What do you mean?” Betsy retorted.
“Join my cause and help rebuild the world!”
Betsy’s mouth fell open. “Join you? Especially after what you did to Daddy? I don’t think so. Anyway, it would break his heart. I could never do that to him.”
“But just think of all the good you could do!”
Betsy glowered. “I don’t believe in your cause, Dr. Loveless. The world isn’t perfect, but I like it the way it is right now. I’m not going to betray it.”
Loveless looked like he was struggling very hard not to lose his temper. “Very well,” he spat at last. “I was hoping I could convince you to join forces with me and simply give me the envelope. But I suppose I will have to get it back another way-with an ultimatum.
“Tell me where that envelope is, Miss Jeffers, or your father will perish!”
Fandom: The Wild Wild West
Rating: T/PG-13
Word Count: 3,239
Main Characters: Jim West, Artemus Gordon, James Jeffers, Betsy Jeffers, Dr. Loveless, Antoinette
Summary: Everyone begins to awaken in Dr. Loveless's compound.
Fanfiction.net Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8264755/6/
Chapter Six
It wasn’t really much of a surprise when Jim began to awaken and found that he was strapped to a slab. When he was on assignment, it seemed as though he spent a great deal of his time strapped to slabs, beds, walls, and other, sometimes stranger, objects. Before ejecting his hidden knife to cut himself loose, he opted to examine his current surroundings.
Clearly he was in what must be Dr. Loveless’s new laboratory. There were tables with vials and bubbling chemicals and unidentified objects in jars. A strange box at the end of the slab was covered with a cloth. And standing nearby was Dr. Loveless himself, grinning with a Cheshire cat grin.
“Ah, Mr. West, you’re awake,” he greeted. “It’s been a while.”
“Dr. Loveless,” Jim mumbled in return. “I should have realized you were the real mastermind behind the boll weevil infestation. I considered it, but I thought it was too insane even for you.”
“Oh come now, Mr. West. It’s brilliant.” Loveless spoke with wicked pride. “Especially my hybrid boll weevils. Then, eventually, I will have not only the world’s cotton, but the world’s food supplies, entirely at my command.”
“Forgive me, but I thought the hybrid boll weevils were the Syndicate’s creation,” Jim said.
Now Loveless’s eyes flamed. “They stole the idea from me!” he ranted. “And they forcefully removed me from their ranks. I barely escaped with my life! That was when I devised the scheme of setting up contact with them through Mr. Jeffers’ double, whom I was fortunate enough to find wandering around in Nevada.”
“And so you intended to eventually seize control of not only your hybrids, but the Syndicate as well,” Jim said.
“Then they would have regretted casting me off,” Loveless fumed. “But that stupid man had to decide to break ties with me and go his own way. He even killed Tom Cass when he thought his operation was going to be discovered.”
“And then he was killed by Tucker,” Jim rejoined. “Did Tucker know there was a double?”
“He wasn’t sure,” Loveless said. “We arranged it so that our Mr. Jeffers never did business with him or the Syndicate from his office.”
“Naturally,” Jim said. “You couldn’t have the real Mr. Jeffers finding out, if you didn’t want to get rid of him yet. And he would have found out, if strange people were seen going in and out of his office when he wasn’t even there.”
“Exactly. So the double contacted them only in certain locations. It was probably when Tom Cass went to the office and found our Mr. Jeffers scrounging around that the fool decided it was too dangerous to keep Mr. Cass alive. He didn’t want word getting back to the genuine article.”
“That’s quite a cozy situation you had, until he spoiled it,” Jim said.
“Ah, but all is not lost, Mr. West. Once I have the formula in the envelope he took from me, I will be able to enact the next phase of my plan!”
Jim kept his expression impassive. “And what’s that, exactly?”
“I always kept some of the boll weevils for myself,” Loveless said. “The Syndicate never got them all. And I have mine right here in this compound. They just need the formula to grow big and strong. Then it will be time to release them on America’s crops!”
“So you really just have one problem,” Jim said. “What if Betsy won’t tell you where it is?”
Loveless just smiled. “Oh, I think she will, Mr. West. To save her father, I’m sure she would be willing to sacrifice a field of cotton.”
“Not to mention corn, wheat, and barley,” Jim deadpanned.
“And there’s really no telling what else these hybrids might develop a taste for,” Loveless said.
“Let’s just hope it’s not people.”
Loveless shook his head. “Mr. West, you have a sick mind.” He crossed the room to the covered box and pulled off the cloth. “Behold, the little insects that will help me conquer the world!”
Jim stared, horrified and transfixed all at once. Inside the glass case, the boll weevils were crawling in every direction-on the floor, up the walls, across the ceiling, and over each other. It was a fairly large container, but it was still too small for their numbers.
“Fascinating, aren’t they, Mr. West?” Loveless grinned.
“They have a certain hypnotic effect,” Jim said. “Just when are you planning to set them loose?”
“As soon as I have the formula,” Loveless said as he replaced the covering. “It doesn’t take long to work. So I would say that before the night is over, America’s crops will be in danger.” He headed for the door and entered the hall. “You won’t be able to stop me this time, Mr. West!”
Left behind, Jim struggled against the straps. Loveless knew very well about at least some of Jim’s stash of secret weapons by now; he had seen to it that Jim could not easily bring out any of them. For the moment, he was stranded.
Oh well, he thought dryly to himself, glancing at the covered box, at least I’m not alone in here.
****
There were few things as disconcerting as waking up in a cage. Particularly if you were someone who had never been in dangerous situations before. And waking up in a cage, tied to someone else behind your back, was an especially strange and surreal experience.
“What the . . .” James Jeffers’ eyes flew open as he began to adjust to the scenario. Underneath him, the large cage was slowly rocking back and forth. The floor of what looked like another laboratory seemed far below.
“Welcome back to the world of the living, Mr. Jeffers.”
Jeffers tried to look over his shoulder. “Mr. Gordon?”
Arte gave a weary nod. “Dr. Loveless seemed to think it would be fun to tie us up together. Heaven knows where Jim is.”
“And what about Betsy and Karen?!” Jeffers exclaimed in horror.
“Oh, Loveless usually treats women quite well,” said Arte. “You probably don’t have to worry too much about them just yet. I imagine that they’re each reclining on a nice, soft bed about now, sleeping off the last effects of that gas.”
“What about when they wake up?” The apprehension in Jeffers’ voice was clear. And certainly not unfounded.
“Well . . .” Arte hesitated. “He still wants that envelope, you know. By now he’s probably given up on you and will go to Betsy directly.”
That was what Jeffers had been afraid of. He struggled against the bonds. “We have to get out of this!” he cried. “Don’t you and Mr. West carry around an arsenal of newfangled tools?”
“Yes, we do,” Arte said slowly. “The problem is, it’s a little difficult to reach any of them right now.”
“Where are they?” Jeffers flexed his fingers. “I could try to reach something.”
Arte pondered for only a moment. Their hands were somewhat free below the tightly wound rope, but could only reach backwards. Arte had no access to his own pockets. But Jeffers might.
“That might actually work,” he declared. “Anyway, we have to try something. Alright, there’s a small metal cigar case in my left pants pocket . . . unless Dr. Loveless removed it.”
Jeffers strained, trying to maneuver his right hand into something that felt like a pocket. “What’s in this case?” he asked. “I’m assuming it’s not really cigars.”
“It isn’t,” Arte replied. “It’s . . . well, let’s just say it’s a special invention of mine. A couple of them, actually. One of them is a rather sticky substance that doubles as an explosive. We can use that for the door. But to get ourselves free first . . .” He gave an uneasy chuckle. “That might be somewhat of a problem. Unless you’re willing to try setting the rope on fire.”
Jeffers stiffened in shock. “What?! We’d both be burned!”
“It takes a lot of practice to do it without that happening,” Arte admitted.
Jeffers was not pleased. “I’ve got the case,” he announced after a moment. “But if the rope has to be set on fire, will you be able to take care of that, Mr. Gordon?”
“I think so,” Arte replied. He felt around until his fingers touched the case. “I just have to manage to open the case.”
“I should be able to help with that,” Jeffers said.
“Why, thank you, Mr. Jeffers. I was about to ask.”
It was a difficult task. Each could only put one hand on the box. And while one tried to hold it steady with a hand bent backwards, the other tried to open it with one likewise. The rocking cage did not make it easier. But somehow the men succeeded in opening it together and Arte reached for the device he wanted.
“This doesn’t start just any fire,” he informed Jeffers. “It’s a slow-acting fire, so we’ll have time to break the ropes and stomp it out before it becomes serious.”
“. . . That’s good to know,” Jeffers said, albeit clearly unconvinced.
“Oh, and watch your clothes. I lost a few shirts while I was testing this baby out.”
“What about skin?” Jeffers returned, not really in jest.
“I might have lost a little bit of that, too,” Arte admitted.
Jeffers shut his eyes in dismay.
Arte soon had the rope in flames. Jeffers came to attention and stared, rigid against the Secret Service agent, as the fire traveled along the course of the rope.
“. . . It’s as if the rope is a fuse,” Jeffers noted.
“I know,” Arte said with definite pride. “It will just stay on the rope, unless something else catches on it.”
“It’s not going to blow up if it makes it to the end of the rope, is it?” Jeffers dryly asked.
“Certainly not,” Arte said. “But we won’t let it get that far anyway.
“Alright!” he said suddenly. “Strain against the ropes with all your might. They should snap now.”
Jeffers was more than willing to obey. As he and Arte both strained, the coil tore free.
“Yes! Oh yes!” Arte exclaimed, getting to his feet. Jeffers stood with him, stamping on the flickering flames as he rose. Arte assisted, before picking up his sticky substance and placing it over the lock on the cage.
“I’m going to set the fuse for this now,” he said. “Stand back.”
Jeffers needed no coaxing. He stood near the opposite side of the cage. “Won’t Loveless hear this and come running?” he frowned.
“Perhaps,” Arte tossed over his shoulder. Lighting the fuse, he stepped back to wait. “But he’s probably expecting us to escape. And at the moment he might be more interested in Betsy. He wants that envelope.”
“Well, he’s not going to have it. Or Betsy,” Jeffers fumed.
The door blew open, sending the cage wildly reeling from side to side. Jeffers gasped, grabbing the bars to keep from falling. Having half-expected it, Arte calmly took hold of another. As the cage settled down, Arte let go and hurried to the doorway, Jeffers right on his heels. Arte jumped to the floor, quickly followed by the harbour commissioner.
“Where do you think these ‘nice, soft beds’ are, Mr. Gordon?” Jeffers asked.
Arte pondered, brushing the dust off of his hands while he walked. “If we’re downstairs, then I might say we should check upstairs first,” he said.
“Fine,” Jeffers said with a curt nod. “Let’s do it.”
But as they approached the door, Jeffers’ gruff demeanor faded and he gave Arte a half-smile. “You’re handy to have around, Mr. Gordon. I’m glad I’m on your side.”
Arte reached for the doorknob. “You and me both, Mr. Jeffers. One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do was to tell Betsy about your supposed criminal activities. Especially your involvement in her kidnapping.”
Jeffers flinched. “I hate to think how she must have looked.”
Arte turned the knob and eased the door open enough to glance up and down the apparently empty corridor beyond it. “She was broken up, to say the very least. But I thought she was going to accept it.” He looked back before he walked out of the room. “Was I ever wrong. And it’s a good thing, too. Mr. Jeffers, I know I don’t need to say how lucky you are to have a daughter who continues to believe in you, even when the situation looks hopeless.”
“No, you don’t need to say it,” Jeffers said, clearly humbled. “Believe me, Mr. Gordon, I know.” He followed Arte into the hallway. “I can’t believe all of this was going on right under my nose and I didn’t know it. No one other than Betsy could have believed in me, with the deck stacked against me that seriously.” He regarded Arte with curiosity. “Was it Betsy who convinced you and Mr. West that I wasn’t responsible for what happened in Tucker’s warehouse?”
“I have to say, it wasn’t, Mr. Jeffers,” Arte confessed. “We thought more seriously about the possibility, but I don’t think I was convinced until you suddenly appeared at your sister’s house and explained it all to us.
“Jim was actually the first of us to start putting the pieces together.”
“And how did he do that?” Jeffers kept his voice low as they walked, staying alert for Loveless or his lackeys. This had been too easy so far. From what he had seen of Loveless, he doubted such a calculating madman would just let them walk away. And that made him concerned for what else might be in store.
“Well, if you can believe it, Sir, it was because of the injury you sustained when Betsy was kidnapped.” Arte tapped the left side of his head.
Jeffers rocked back. “Excuse me?!”
“You see, your villainous twin made one small mistake,” Arte said. “He wasn’t injured, of course, and when he took your place he put the bandage on the wrong side of his head. Maybe he was looking in a mirror and forgot everything was reversed. But anyway, Jim was there when you were hurt, and he started remembering about the mixed-up bandages.”
“And that was all it took?” Jeffers said in amazement.
“To start the investigation, yes,” said Arte. “Then we went to your sister’s house and found that Betsy still insisted on believing in you.”
“Incredible,” Jeffers breathed.
“Jim isn’t the Secret Service’s most trusted agent without good reason,” Arte said. “Of course, had I been there when you were hurt, I’m sure I would’ve realized the truth as well.”
“Of course,” Jeffers agreed. “I’m sure you would have.”
They continued down the hall, only growing tenser with the lack of guards or traps. What was Loveless up to?
****
Betsy groaned as consciousness began to seep into her senses. “Daddy?” she mumbled. There was no answer. But . . . he had been there, hadn’t he? And he had told her that he had never been involved in the boll weevil plot?
It hadn’t all been a wonderful dream. It couldn’t have been!
Slowly she opened her eyes. In the next moment she gasped. She was not in her room at home or at Aunt Karen’s! It was a beautiful bedroom, well-furnished and filled with every type of material things she could want, but it was a room she had never seen before.
“Where am I?!” she gasped.
A strange woman crossed the room, placing a silver tea tray next to the bed. “You’re at Dr. Loveless’s compound,” she announced. “He sent me in to see if you were awake yet. I’m Antoinette.”
“Dr. Loveless?!” Betsy sat up straight. “Then it wasn’t just a dream! Daddy is alive! And he is innocent!”
“Of course he is.” Antoinette poured a cup of tea. “Here. This should help steady your nerves. The gas sometimes has a lingering trembling effect.”
Betsy took it. Her hands were indeed shaking, but she attributed it more to her excitement rather than the gas. “Where is he now?” she demanded. “He’s alright, isn’t he?!”
“He hasn’t been hurt,” Antoinette said. “But Dr. Loveless wants to see you before you go to your father.”
“Why?” Betsy frowned, sipping the tea. “What does he want with me?” Her eyes flashed. “As if I’d be willing to give him anything after he spirited both me and my father away.”
“He has a proposal for you,” Antoinette said. “I’ll let him tell you himself.” She went back to the door and stepped into the hall. “She’s awake, Miguelito,” she announced.
“Thank you, my dear,” came a familiar voice. Dr. Miguelito Loveless stepped into the room in the next moment.
Betsy set the teacup aside. “Dr. Loveless, I want to see my father!” she declared.
Loveless shut the door. “Yes, Miss Jeffers, I know you do. But I just so happened to be in the middle of a little transaction with him before he spoke to you and Mr. Gordon. He told you all about the envelope I want, didn’t he?”
“He didn’t want you to get it,” Betsy shot back. “So I don’t intend to hand it over, either.”
Loveless’s eyes flashed. “Your father just doesn’t understand why I want it!” he cried. “No one understands! I’m trying to better this cold, cruel world.”
“By allowing boll weevils to eat it up?!” Betsy exclaimed.
Loveless gripped the cane he sometimes used. “Once the world’s population turns to me to buy their food and cotton, I’ll be able to make everything over for the better! There won’t be any starvation. Everyone will have more than enough to eat. And to wear. The world will be far more prosperous than it is right now. And it will be a world without greed and violence and hatred!”
“All everyone has to do is accept you as the king over the world. Is that it?” Betsy snapped.
“A king isn’t a bad thing, Miss Jeffers,” Loveless said. “Not if he knows what’s best for his subjects!”
Betsy crossed her arms. “Well, after what I’ve seen of your methods, I don’t think you do know what’s best. You got Daddy into a horrible mess with that awful double! His reputation is in shreds!”
“That was regrettable. But it can be mended.” Loveless came closer, his eyes aflame from the ideas floating through his mind. “Miss Jeffers, I’m offering you a chance to be part of this historic event.”
“What do you mean?” Betsy retorted.
“Join my cause and help rebuild the world!”
Betsy’s mouth fell open. “Join you? Especially after what you did to Daddy? I don’t think so. Anyway, it would break his heart. I could never do that to him.”
“But just think of all the good you could do!”
Betsy glowered. “I don’t believe in your cause, Dr. Loveless. The world isn’t perfect, but I like it the way it is right now. I’m not going to betray it.”
Loveless looked like he was struggling very hard not to lose his temper. “Very well,” he spat at last. “I was hoping I could convince you to join forces with me and simply give me the envelope. But I suppose I will have to get it back another way-with an ultimatum.
“Tell me where that envelope is, Miss Jeffers, or your father will perish!”