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Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. Half Title Page
  3. Books by Elizabeth Camden
  4. Title Page
  5. Dedication
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-One
  27. Twenty-Two
  28. Twenty-Three
  29. Twenty-Four
  30. Twenty-Five
  31. Twenty-Six
  32. Twenty-Seven
  33. Twenty-Eight
  34. Twenty-Nine
  35. Thirty
  36. Thirty-One
  37. Thirty-Two
  38. Thirty-Three
  39. Thirty-Four
  40. Thirty-Five
  41. Thirty-Six
  42. Thirty-Seven
  43. Thirty-Eight
  44. Thirty-Nine
  45. Historical Note
  46. Questions for Discussion
  47. In 2021, look for Luke Delacroix’s story in
  48. About the Author
  49. Back Ads
  50. Back Cover

Nathaniel nodded. It was what he wanted too, but he was torn in too many directions. Caroline. Milwaukee. The simmering problem with Luke. The burning desire to shake free of the strangling lassitude that had been choking him. It was time to strike out and conquer once again, to test his skill against a worthy opponent and win. He would relay what he knew about Luke and turn it over to Wilkie . . . but his hand curled around the five-dollar bill in anticipation. It was only a tiny slip of paper, but hunting down its source could be the key to his healing.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked.

Thirty-Four

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For a fleeting moment when Caroline awoke the next morning, she feared the past twelve hours had been a dream. But she lay in her childhood bedroom instead of the White House dormitory. She heard Luke humming down the hall, and Nathaniel’s kestrel tie clip was on her bedside table, so it was all true.

She closed her eyes to murmur a prayer of thanks. As said in Proverbs, she must learn to trust in the Lord rather than her own understanding. Life was unfolding according to plan, and gratitude filled her heart.

Luke was down the hall, and she tugged on a robe to seek him out. The humming came from the room shared by their butler and his wife. The door was open, and she peeked inside, wincing at the sight of Luke’s ghastly bare back. His ribs, spine, and shoulder blades were all prominent beneath his skin.

“What are you doing in here?” she asked as he rummaged through the closet.

“Looking for something to wear,” he replied. “None of my clothes fit anymore, but Mr. Holder is a lot smaller than me.”

Or at least, he had been. The butler’s shirt hung on Luke’s bony frame, and the pants needed a pair of suspenders to hold them up. It would have to do, for they were both eager to get to Philip’s office to start planning their next steps.

“I need to warn you that Nathaniel plans to tell John Wilkie about your return,” she said as she clipped the suspenders to the back of his trousers. “He seemed a little miffed that unauthorized investigations were being carried out and the Secret Service didn’t know about them.”

“Rule-follower,” Luke grumbled.

“He’s very straitlaced,” she defended. “I rather like that about him.”

Nathaniel’s famously upright comportment might not mesh well with her daredevil brother, but she couldn’t worry about that today. Luke was champing at the bit to get to Philip’s office.

“I can’t believe Philip is at the center of this whole mess,” she said as she helped Luke into a jacket. “For the past year I’ve sat in his office to cry and bemoan your fate, and he never breathed a word.”