“His deputy is as bad as Marshal Kane. Worse, in fact.”
“I haven’t yet met the man.”
“Name is Hec Ward, and he’s a bloodthirsty bastard that would as soon shoot a man as give him a hello.”
“I see.”
“No,” Kirkwood said, “you don’t see until you’ve watched that pair in action when they collect their fees.”
“Do you pay him?”
Kirkwood lowered his chin to his chest. “I didn’t want to,” he whispered. “At first I held out like some of the others. Then things started happening to my horses and stuff. Next thing I knew, there was a note on my barn door saying that, if I didn’t cooperate, my barn and haystack would be burned to the ground. That would wipe me out, Miss Riley.”
“And this note came from Marshal Kane?”
“I don’t know. He and his deputy would never be stupid enough to show their hand that way. Oh, they’ll collect their protection money, but they wouldn’t let anyone know it was done under a threat.”
“But you’re pretty sure that it was them?”
“Who else stands to gain?”
“No one that I know about,” Megan said.
“They’re a cancer on this town. It was bad before they came. It’s even worse now. But Marshal Kane and his deputy with the hook hand aren’t the real powers in this town.”
“They’re not?”
“No,” Kirkwood said, with a look of satisfaction. “Even they have to take their orders.”
“From?”
“I don’t know. Maybe some of the mine owners. They’re the ones with the most money and power in Bodie.”
“But why would they-“
“To get even more money,” Kirkwood said. “Have you ever seen anyone claimed they had enough money?”
“Not outside the clergy.”
“Then I rest my case,” Kirkwood said.
Megan went to work repairing the saddles, but her mind was really on Custis and the disturbing news that she had just learned with all of its evil ramifications.
Chapter 11
When Megan finally showed up at their hotel room, Longarm let her in and then locked the door. “Where have you been so long?” he asked.
“At Kirkwood’s livery repairing a saddle and buying a couple of horses. Why?”
“I want you to leave town now,” Longarm said, sitting her down on the bed. “I want you to ride to Carson City.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s the nearest telegraph office.”
“Who-“
“I want you to send a telegraph to my office in Denver, Megan. It needs to go off as fast as possible.”
“I can’t leave you here alone!”
“Of course you can,” he said firmly. “There’s going to be trouble and I may need some help.”
“Then that’s all the more reason for me to stay!”
“No, it isn’t,” Longarm argued. “What I really need you to do is to get to Carson City and send off that telegram.”
Longarm rustled through his pockets until he found a paper and pencil. “I’ll write out exactly what I want you to send.”
Megan bounced off the bed. “I can’t do this,” she said. “I can’t run out on you. Mr. Kirkwood told me that this town is ready to explode. That Marshal Kane and his deputy, while they may think they’re the ones in power, are only fooling themselves. Kirkwood says it’s the mine owners that control things here in Bodie.”
“I know,” Longarm said. “Kane admitted as much. But he said that the miners’ union and saloon owners also have a lot of power.”
“So who,” Megan asked with exasperation, “really does run things in this town?”
“That’s the problem,” Longarm said. “No one does. There’s this big power struggle going on and it’s bound to erupt in gunfire and bloodshed. Kane and his deputy, a man named Hec Ward, are trying to act tough, but I think they’re really worried.”
“They’ve got every reason to be.”
“Megan,” Longarm said. “Marshal Kane and Deputy Ward as much as told me that I’d be shot on sight if I didn’t take his warning and leave Bodie today.”
