Charles

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Charles and Lenny had been scoping out the Saint Denis jailhouse for a couple of weeks now, watching for any sort of lax in guard. However, the authorities here didn't function like those of smaller towns. Despite the casualties of recent weeks, from the failed robberies of both the trolley station and the bank, the number of police officers in this city remained plentiful.

Rushing in and busting John out wasn't a viable option. If they tried, they'd be swarmed by lawmen in full force and shot up in minutes. John might as well be currently kept in a fortress.

In their place, Charles didn't think even Hosea or Dutch could spin a convincing enough yarn to get John released. Not that Charles and Lenny ever had the option to posit a false narrative. They'd be apprehended over the color of their skin well before getting a word out.

Charles wouldn't put it past Lenny to want to try it anyway. That kid wanted desperately to free John, enough that he might become reckless. It was why Charles had postponed a meeting with Eagle Flies to be here. That man's fury guided him in the same manner Lenny's determination to prove himself drove him. But Charles couldn't watch over them both. As much as Rains Fall wished for his help, Charles had ended up in Saint Denis with Lenny, the one more likely to need help getting out of a scrape.

Charles was leaned against a fence in the area across from the police station, but straightened when he spotted Lenny turning the corner, heading for him. Judging by his quick pace and the excited gleam in his eye, he had news.

Lenny had hardly reached him before he was blurting out, "They're movin' him tonight."

Of course they'd been expecting it, hoping for it really. Moving John to another location would give them an opening. If they wanted to be successful with this endeavor, they'd have to be smart about it. "To where?"

"Sisika." Lenny's eyes strayed in the direction of the station and then south. "They got a small boat in Dock Three at the port. They're taking John and two others across town at midnight."

Tonight. It wasn't enough time to retrieve Sadie from Lakay and make it back, though he knew she'd want to be involved. Charles wasn't certain he and Lenny could succeed with only the two of them.

"We can get him out ourselves," Lenny insisted, reading his mind. "Ain't no way they'll have more than two or three guarding the wagon. We can take 'em on."

Lenny didn't lack the brains or the gumption, but he was biting at the chomp to contribute to the gang in a meaningful way since they'd lost the others.

When Dutch, Bill, Javier, Micah and Arthur disappeared, they'd taken all the hope with them. And Hosea Matthews had taken the heart. Charles studied the group every time he returned to camp and they were cracking under the pressure. Sadie remained strong-willed, but it wasn't her nature to coddle anyone any more than it was his. Like Charles, she remained realistic of the situation.

Charles and Lenny had made discreet inquiries whenever they were in Saint Denis, but there wasn't anything new. And Hosea had disappeared better than Charles himself could. If Hosea was still in the city, no one was talking or he wasn't alive to make it known.

Not wanting to linger over the memories of lost friends, Charles asked, "Why haven't they moved him sooner?"

"I got it on good authority that Milton wants him held at the jail, but the Saint Denis police don't seem to care. There ain't no proof or eyewitnesses that put John at the bank."

"There wouldn't be," Charles muttered. John hadn't joined them until they'd been fleeing across the rooftops. He'd only been caught because he'd chosen the wrong time and place to leave the city.

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