Chapter Seventeen
“What do you think, Chee?” Hollister asked as they made their way through the now bustling city streets back to the train yard.
“About what, sir?”
“Don’t call me ‘sir.’ We covered that,” Hollister said.
“Yes, sir.”
Colfax was a busy street full of people this time of morning, and they dodged in and out of the crowd, Chee still not saying a word.
“Chee?”
“Yes, sir?”
“What do you think?” Hollister sighed. “And don’t say, ‘About what?’ ”
“I think the senator is a very angry man,” Chee said.
“No shit. Go on.”
“He is also scared. Not for his son or his family. He is scared only for himself, for what he might lose.”
They passed by the opera house and Hollister had to marvel for a moment. Denver was full of theaters and fancy buildings to go along with the gambling dens and whorehouses. Hollister had visited New York City several times as a Cadet at the Point. Denver felt like a miniature New York to him.
“Something wrong, sir?” Chee asked.
“No, Chee, nothing wrong. I was just thinking how civilization is spreading everywhere. Here’s this big opera house, as fine as any anywhere in the country. And yet we’re not on the trail of something civilized, are we, Chee?”
Chee didn’t know how to respond to the major. So far, he had found Hollister to be a man who liked to ask questions with no answers. Chee hoped it wasn’t a habit. The moment back at Leavenworth, when he had kept McAfee’s men from entering that fight with barely more than a look, had told Chee pretty much all he needed to know about his new commanding officer. He had served under officers good, bad, and average. Hollister had saved him from a life in prison and was giving him an opportunity as an equal he may never have again. But despite all that, he found the major’s questions and sudden mood shifts unnerving.
“No, sir, I don’t expect we are.”
They walked on in silence, the train yard still a few yards away.
“Sir?”
“Yes.”
“Are you concerned about Slater?” Chee asked.
“Not really,” Hollister said.
Chee said nothing, as if he was chewing on his words, unsure if he should speak.
“Chee, if you got something to say, out with it.” Hollister prodded the young man.
“He’s dangerous,” Chee said.
“So I gathered.”
“At some point, he will try to kill you.”
“I expect,” Hollister said.
“He… sir… Slater is…” Chee struggled to find the right words.
“Like a shark?” Hollister offered.
“No, sir. Not exactly. A shark can’t help being a shark. It simply is, like any animal… it hunts and kills to survive. Slater hunts and kills because he enjoys it,” Chee said.
“I see. Duly noted, Sergeant. You do know he’s following us, don’t you?” Hollister asked.
“Of course, sir. But there is…” Chee hesitated. Not sure how his commanding officer would react to the news.
Hollister noticed the young man’s hesitance. “Chee. You and I are about to head into some very dangerous territory. Neither one of us might come out alive. We’re going to have a much better chance of surviving if you just feel free to speak your mind. In the army, I learned to trust my sergeants. I already trust you. Implicitly. So out with it.”
“Someone else is following us,” he said.
“One of Slater’s men?”
“I don’t know for certain, but I don’t believe so, sir. He was across the street while you were meeting the senator at the hotel. There was a reflection in the window. He kept staring at the entrance though he pretended to be looking in shop windows. Whoever it was disappeared, then came out of the alley on the same side of the street as the hotel. Now he is behind us, on the south side of the street. Just past the telegraph office.”
“How can you be sure it’s the same person? There are hundreds of people out and about now.”
“It was hard not to notice him,” Chee said.
Hollister stared straight ahead, not wanting to turn and look, for fear he might spook their tail.
“Describe him,” he said.
“Medium height, slender, dressed in black riding boots and leather duster with a hood. I can’t see the face now and…” His voice trailed off.
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure… I must be mistaken…” Chee said.
“Say it,” Hollister prodded him.
“The sky is overcast and cloudy, but now and then, the sun comes through the clouds and when it does, he moves to the shadows or the shade. Never stands in the sunlight,” he said.
“What? Are you sure?” Hollister asked.
“Yes, sir,” Chee said and Jonas thought he detected a mild hint of hurt feelings in Chee’s voice, as if the major’s doubt had insulted him in some way.
“I’m sorry, Chee. Of course you’re sure.”
Hollister’s mind raced. He remembered that last night, as he’d walked through the streets, he’d felt like someone was following him. And when he’d turned quickly, he’d caught a brief glimpse of a person wearing black cutting down an alleyway. He’d thought it was Slater, believed it could have been one of his thugs trying to surround them.
But now, with Chee finding someone else watching him, he thought it might be something even more sinister. He remembered the hillside in Wyoming, his platoon lying dead, the giant white-haired man advancing on him. He saw the sun come up over the horizon, convinced it had somehow saved his life. And he remembered the man putting on a large black cloak before he climbed into the wagon.
“Sir?” Chee interrupted his thought.
“All right. Let’s split up. The next cross street you go left. I’ll go right. If this person was watching the hotel, they’ll probably follow me. You double back and follow him. Let’s try to find out what they’re up to.”
“Sir, that’s not going to work,” Chee said, quietly staring straight ahead down the street.
“What? Why not?”
“Whoever it was… is gone, sir,” Chee answered.
Chapter Eighteen
Shaniah darted down the alley, the black cloak billowing behind her. Her way was hidden by shade and shadow now in the late morning, so she threw back the hood, hoping it would make her less noticeable. Walking quickly, she kept an eye and ear cocked for anyone following her, cursing her laziness and lack of caution.
She had drawn close enough to her quarry to hear that the soldier who had fought Malachi was named Hollister. She did not know if it was his first name or his last, but it was useful. The man Chee was the problem. He had noticed her. He was protecting Hollister and at first she didn’t pay attention, but she realized he smelled
