Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
The alley started at Main Street between two substantial wood frame buildings, the Belle Saloon on one side and Smith’s Haberdashery on the other.
On the west side of the passage, which was wide enough for little more than a wagon, the Belle went back almost two hundred feet.
On the other side, the clothing store went back nearly as far.
From there, a shadowy haphazard jumble of shacks and shanties and sheds followed.
Some of the buildings were still inhabited, and some were no more than yawning cavities, left to the forces of winter cold and summer rains, and filled with decaying wood and rotting trash.
At the far end, a row of newer wood frame houses faced a road running parallel to Main Street.
Caleb knew that from there, the streets became wider and more dignified.
Predictably, only a few blocks farther on, the judge and the other pillars of the community lived in a row of wood and stone structures that rivaled the finest houses in Denver.
The boarding house Belle Constant used to house some of her employees—the same one that Tex Washington was currently recuperating in—was located around the corner just beyond the end of the alley.
The conversation with Belle gave Caleb direction. He knew exactly what he had to do.
After leaving the side door of the saloon, Caleb picked his way past snow-covered crates and barrels of all sizes that had been dumped along the edges of the lane.
He stayed as much as he could to the packed-down tracks of carts and walkers.
He went as quickly as he could manage, dodging obstacles and icy patches.
Smoke from nearby chimneys drifted on currents just above the alley, giving it a roofed-in feeling, closed off from the sky and fresh air.
Beyond the Belle, however, he occasionally caught glimpses of bright sunlit lots between and behind the derelict buildings.
Caleb was about halfway down the lane when he paused and then ducked into the shadows of an abandoned stable. Coming toward him at a slow and deliberate pace were the very people he was going after.
All the things he intended to do this morning had been put aside after his meeting with Belle. He’d planned on speaking with Henry, Zeke, and the judge. Caleb had even decided to track down Elijah Starr, for he’d heard his father had returned to town. All of that would have to wait.
Red Annie’s information about seeing Amos Stubbs and Elijah Starr together in Denver was some of the best news Caleb had heard in days. That meeting had taken place just before the preacher showed up in Elkhorn.
Now, standing in the shadows in the ruined shell of the old stable, he unbuttoned his coat and unfastened the thongs over his twin Colts.
As he waited, the cold curled in around him, but it didn’t bother him at all.
For too long, he’d been feeling the foul breath of ill fortune breathing down his neck.
For a change this morning, Caleb felt that he had a chance of facing it down.
The two people were drawing closer, arms linked as they moved slowly through the snow and ice.
Amos Stubbs’s voice was clear enough. Caleb had heard it already this morning, but right now he wasn’t quoting Scripture or trying to stir up a mob against him and Henry.
Instead, he was speaking to the woman beside him.
Caleb moved farther into the shadows as the two drew closer.
“You promised me,” the young woman said, a whining note in her voice. “Come on, Amos. Let’s go now. This week. I’m telling you, I can’t do it no more!”
They were nearly opposite Caleb, and the preacher was pleading with her. “Look, Mariah. I told you I’ll take you away. I’m going to marry you. But first, I have to collect the money.”
She stopped short and planted her feet in the snow. Pulling her arm from his, she put a fist defiantly on her hip.
“How long does that take? Frank is dead. What else do they want from you?”
“I have to wait for the hanging.”
“Why?” Mariah snapped. “What’s one thing got to do with the other?”
“The money’s coming, but I have to make sure Jordan takes the blame.”
The words came out fast, almost desperate. For the first time Caleb saw what Belle had seen. Amos Stubbs wasn’t the mastermind. He was a frightened little man trying to convince himself he’d made the right bargain.
“So you got to wait around for them to hang the man you lied about? That makes no sense. Ain’t you afraid of getting caught?”
Stubbs lowered his voice a little. “Those killers that gunned Frank will come after me for sure if I don’t do what they say. I’ve got to wait. And once I have the money, we’ll go. And I won’t get caught.”
Caleb had left the Belle with the full intention of beating Amos Stubbs until he admitted his involvement. But this was all he needed.
“You’re already caught,” Caleb said, striding out of the shadows.
Mariah immediately paled and shrank against the preacher.
Stubbs fumbled inside his coat, and Caleb cleared leather, pointing the Colt at his chest.
“Don’t.”
The preacher stopped reaching and slowly withdrew his hand. Caleb went up and yanked a small revolver from Stubbs’s belt. Backing away, he stuck it in his pocket and pouched his own iron.
“I’m not afraid of you, villain. You be on your way.” Stubbs looked around him to see if there was any escape or anyone close enough to help.
“Save that for your mob. I’ve already heard everything I need to hear.” Caleb gestured to Mariah. “Let’s go. You’re both coming with me.”
“Where?” she asked, holding tightly now to her man’s arm.
“We’re going to the judge. You’re gonna repeat everything you just said.”
“I won’t,” she cried out. “I didn’t say nothing.”
“Have it your way. You’ll hang with this one for being behind the killing of Frank Stubbs.”
“Killing?” she gasped. “Why would I kill Frank?”
“For beating you. You told anyone and everyone who would listen how you planned to get Frank to take you away from here, in spite of how much you hated him. And then the tables turned, and you knew that wasn’t going to happen.” Caleb turned his gaze on the preacher. “And then you came into it.”
“You’ve got nothing on me. I’ll deny everything.”
“Seems believable to me. You come to town, steal your brother’s woman, and the only thing left was to get rid of him. Then you’ve got it all, his girl, his land, and his mining claims.”
“I didn’t steal her.”
“And yet, here you are. But if you don’t think she ain’t gonna turn on you when she’s looking at the noose, you’re as crazy as a shit house rat.”
“She loves me and I love her. We’re going to be married. She’ll never betray me.”
Maybe that was right, but Caleb could see the cogs turning in Mariah’s head. All he had to do was keep the pressure on.
“What did Frank do when he found out you were taking his woman?” Caleb asked Amos. “I forgot. He didn’t do nothing. He couldn’t, because you killed him first.”
“Amos didn’t kill nobody!” Mariah squeaked.
“I went up to the creek where you and your helpers dumped Frank’s body. There was plenty of tracks left up there. Once I sorted it out and saw where they all come from and led back to, I went up and told the judge what had really happened.”
There were times when stretching the truth—or making it up—was justified. Saving a man’s life was one of those times.
“As you know, Mariah, I’ve worked as his deputy before, and he was more than willing for me to wear the badge again. And you just told me why, Stubbs. It’s about that property. With you going to the gallows, Patterson won’t have to pay nothing for Frank’s land. He just takes it, free and clear.”
“Tell him, Amos. Tell him. You can’t let them do that to you. To us.”
Caleb turned to Mariah. “You’ve been around long enough to know Judge Patterson owns this town. He sure can sure as hell do anything he wants.”
Her eyes widened. Not because she cared about justice. Because she cared about survival. Belle had been right about that too. Mariah wanted out of Elkhorn more than she wanted anything else.
“He’s right, Amos.” She had panic in her eyes. “Patterson is a hanging judge. That’s why you ain’t seen the money. It’s cheaper to get rid of you. And then what happens to me?”
Being patient was difficult, but Caleb waited. Mariah was doing a better job of prying Stubbs open than he’d have ever expected.
“I didn’t kill Frank,” Amos said again.
“I say you did. You reckoned you’d get everything when he was dead. And everything points back to you.”
“I tell you I didn’t kill him. I…” His voice broke.
“I say you gunned him in the back. Let’s go talk to somebody about that ‘sword of honor and decency’ you like to spout off about.”
“He didn’t do it, Marlowe,” Mariah almost shrieked. “But he knows who did.”
“Unless he finds his backbone and talks, there ain’t no way that noose ain’t going round both of your necks.”
“He’ll tell you. Tell him, Amos. But you have to let us go. Him and me both…and with the money from the land.”
Mariah was the sharper of the two of them, but desperation wasn’t the strongest place to negotiate from. Still, whatever deal the judge made to buy Stubbs’s land, that was none of Caleb’s concern. All he wanted was to get Henry out of jail.
“Who killed Frank?” he snapped.
Amos Stubbs stared at Caleb’s twin Colts and made up his mind. “There were five of them. And I can show you where they are.”