Chapter 16
After a long evening of cards, coaches took the locals home and the inn's guests retired for the night. I said good night to Cassie, changed into quiet slippers and a dark dress with deep pockets—packed expressly for the purposes of nighttime reconnoitering—and waited.
Finally, the noises of the house quieted. I stuffed a book of matches and Kendall's lockpicks in my pockets and wrapped myself in a shawl against the night chill.
A single lamp in the deep window casement offered modest illumination as I crept along the upper corridor. Just as I approached the stairs, I froze. Footsteps. I strained to find the source, breathing a sigh when I heard them again, overhead. Rayburn's room.
I waited. When it became obvious he was simply pacing, I continued down the stairs and outsid
