Page 103 of In the Heat of the Jungle

“Hand it over! Or I’ll take it after you’re dead.”

“You could, if this was the cable copy. I’m not a fool, Reid. It’s hidden. If I’m dead, my things will be searched and the real telegram will be discovered. I wonder what the authorities will think about it. Webster dead. Leigh dead. Chad dead. Fiona and you getting married. Then that cable shows up and inspires questions. I also have a confession from Jim Hanes that includes you; need I clarify, old boy? If I don’t get money and get killed, so will you and your lover.”

“What do you want, Jace? Name your price.”

Jace scratched his head. “About half is—” He brought up his knee into Reid’s groin as hard as he could. As the man reflexively jerked forward, Jace landed a stunning blow across his jaw. When Reid was floored and the gun was sent clattering from his grasp, Jace pounced upon him and socked him several times.

The authorities and Leigh rushed forward.

Leigh grabbed her husband’s arm. “Enough, Jace! It’s over. Your plan to expose them worked.”

Jace glanced up at his frantic wife, his image reflected in her blue eyes. The animal instinct within him was mastered. He ceased beating the man who had tried to destroy him and everyone he loved. He inhaled, stood, and pulled Leigh into his arms. “You’re right, love; it’s finally over. We can go home now.”

“We heard every word, Jace,” Charles Nelson said. “You’re under arrest, Mr. Adams. I’ll have my men pick up your accomplice tonight. You’re both facing a lot of very damaging charges.”

Reid jumped to his feet. He gaped at the embracing couple. “You tricked me. You faked her death!”

“Of course. You couldn’t expect me to let one of you kill the woman I love, the woman I married.”

Reality flooded Reid, and terror filled him. “I was lying just to provoke you. Chad did all those things. He killed himself. I thought you were trying to blackmail me and Fi—Mrs. Webster. I was only trying to get information from you. We’re innocent.”

“It’s useless, Mr. Adams,” Nelson told him. “We have plenty of evidence. We have your cable from Mombasa. We have a statement from Jim Hanes, one from Joanna Harris Marlowe, and one from Cynthia Campbell. It’s over. Come along quietly.”

Leigh watched as the sullen Reid was taken away. His hirelings outside had been captured. Men were sent to arrest Fiona Webster. So many people had died for greed and money. So many people had been hurt. Each of them had wanted her inheritance, when only Jace Elliott meant anything to her. She wished her grandfather hadn’t made her his sole heir. Yet she realized she would never have met her love, her husband, if that weren’t true.

Jace and his father were cleared of those crimes. Joanna was free of the past. Her grandfather hadn’t been involved. Brandon Elliott and her grandparents could now rest in peace. She and Jace could return home and build a bright future. At least some good things had come from so much evil and suffering.

~*~

On Monday, Jace and Leigh went to see Cynthia Campbell and realized she’d finally lost all touch with reality and sanity. The pitiful woman would have to be taken to an institution for care and treatment, but the doctor they summoned said her recovery was doubtful. If she traveled the long road back, she would spend her life in sorrow.

On Tuesday morning, Joanna Marlowe sailed for Scotland to visit her mother. With her, she took a document that revealed a large deposit Leigh Webster Elliott had made in a London bank for Catharine’s support, for Brandon’s widow to live comfortably for the rest of her life. From Scotland in two weeks, Joanna was sailing home to her family. Jace and Leigh promised to visit them and Jenna late next summer, after the coffee crop was in and sold.

~*~

During the day, Jace rode Leigh by his old home, and they visited the graves of their loved ones. He related his family history to his wife, who was delighted to learn all about Jace.

They went to Webster International and searched Chad’s office to make certain no family possessions or incriminating evidence was left behind. Leigh bid the workers good-bye. She urged them not to worry, that everything would be settled soon. She questioned Jace to make sure he did not want to retain his father’s company. Both decided they did not want to be in the textile business or to live in London.

At four, they had afternoon tea with Lord Salisbury. They thanked him for his past and recent help. All three were glad to have Brandon and Jace exonerated, and the case closed. For a while, they talked of Brandon Elliott and William Webster, then parted at six, with Lord Salisbury promising again to introduce Leigh and Jace to Queen Victoria on their next visit during the early summer of ‘97.

~*~

Over dinner in their hotel suite, Jace talked about Chad for the last time. “He really loved you, Leigh. In time, if you had loved him, I think you could have changed him back to the way he was before he was destroyed in South Africa. At least I’d like to believe that was possible. There are plenty of good times to remember. I’d like to forget the bad.”

“He must have been different long ago, Jace, or you wouldn’t have loved him. I’m sorry about the pain both of you endured. Deep inside, I think he always knew you didn’t betray him. I doubt he could have ever admitted it, not after the terrible things he did during his madness. Whatever happened to Chadwick Hamilton during his capture and torture by the Matabele warriors altered him inextricably. He couldn’t accept the fact you couldn’t rescue him from anything. To get back his manhood, he had to blame someone for his troubles; he had to use a powerful emotion to push him onward. It’s sad that he chose hatred and vengeance.”

“At least he’s at peace. I want that for him, Leigh. He was an important part of my life. When I thought he was dead years ago, it really hurt. When I discovered him alive, I was overjoyed, until he made us bitter enemies. The loss of our friendship created a vast emptiness in me. But you’ve filled it, and I’m at peace now, too.”

~*~

On Wednesday, Leigh and Jace met with the Webster lawyers to unravel the shocking affair of her faked death. She ordered a sale of all her holdings in England except the ancestral estate, which she could not bring herself to part with yet. She told the lawyers she would visit there next year and make her final decision. Leigh couldn’t help but think that perhaps one of their children might reside in England one day in that beautiful country setting.

Arrangements also were made for any further support of Jace’s stepmother that ill health or such might necessitate. Money was allotted for a nice house for Catharine, who had been forced by Chad’s crimes into the home of relatives far away. It would be the widow’s decision to purchase a dwelling there or in London where she had once lived. With Brandon and Jace cleared, there was no reason she couldn’t return.

Jace was happy to see his wife so concerned over his father’s widow, and so generous in heart.

Afterward, the couple went to the Webster home, where Fiona Hamilton Webster had been arrested Sunday night, dragged away screaming and protesting and finally sobbing at her defeat. Leigh went through her grandparents’ belongings. Servants helped her pack the possessions she wanted to take home to Africa. Other items were given to the men and women who had served her family for years. The London home and Chad’s townhouse were to be sold, along with the textile business, as were the Texas and Georgia holdings.

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