Chapter 13
“Where is Stevens?” Michael asked as he arrived at the smelter and found them one man down.
Alex Adams, his dark hair flopping into his eyes as always, smiled. “He’ll be along shortly. He’s had some stomach issues lately, and I suspect that he’s camped out at the outhouse for a while.”
Michael raised his eyebrows. “That sounds unpleasant. Has he been to see Julie?”
Adams nodded. “Yes, a couple of times. Nothing has helped yet.”
“Okay, well, let me know when he arrives,” Michael said, and he headed to the office. To his surprise, he found Ethan sitting in his chair. “Are you back?”
Ethan nodded. “Only part time. Julie is still watching me like a hawk. She said I lost a lot of blood and that it’s going to take time to get fully back on my feet.
But I really can’t sit around my tent staring at nothing.
It leaves me constantly remembering being shot.
” He sighed. “Does that sound foolish to you too?”
“No,” Michael said. “I keep reliving it, and I wasn’t the one who almost died. Do you want me to come back later?”
Ethan shrugged. “I’ve got paperwork to keep me going till lunch. Do you want to take over then?”
“Sure,” Michael said. “I hate the paperwork.”
“It’s actually really pleasant now,” Ethan said. “I’m enjoying doing it. There must still be something wrong with me.”
They laughed and Michael left the smelter. He took a walk through the camp and finally found Robert Hayes. The former US Marshal was in his tent, also busy with pen and paper. He looked up when Michael poked his head in.
“Oh good, you’re around. Where were you this morning?” Robert asked.
“Staking out my house on the other side of the creek,” Michael said with a grin. “I’m working up the courage to ask Emily to marry me. I think she suspects that I’ll ask soon, but we’re both waiting.”
“What are you waiting for? I thought you did that long ago,” Robert said with a frown.
Michael shrugged. “I haven’t found the right moment to ask her.”
“Oh, well, that takes time too, I guess, but I was talking about the house,” Robert said. “Didn’t you claim your spot? I’ve claimed mine.”
“I did, but the building team is finally going to start on my property and Troy’s, so we had to go and help put up the ropes around the property. What are you working on?” Michael asked.
“Well, I thought it would be wise to make sure that we have all the legal documents in place before we do anything about this thief,” Robert said.
“I would feel a lot better if we had a judge or a local magistrate to sign off on things. It just means that we’re not acting outside the law.
I’m sure it’s not much of an issue, considering that our town doesn’t even have a name yet, but I still prefer to have things done properly. ”
Michael could appreciate that. “I wish we had a magistrate too,” he said. “And permanent houses and a general store and roads.” He chuckled. “We’re starting to really build a town now, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, and all the good stuff that goes along with it,” Robert said with a nod.
Michael wasn’t sure if there was a slight note of sarcasm in Robert’s words. He had been a marshal for only a few years, but it seemed to have left a scar on his soul, and the happy young fellow Michael and Andrew had met at school was now a cynical, hardened man.
“Did you hear anything about Ryan Stevens having a bad stomach?” Michael asked, deciding to change the subject. “It seems a little odd since we’ve been looking into Perez that Stevens seems to be sick so much lately. He’s almost never at the smelter anymore.”
“Are you suggesting he might be working with Perez to steal the ore?” Robert asked.
“I guess I am,” Michael said. “What do you think?”
“Our investigation hasn’t been thorough enough for us to say we’ve exhausted every possibility,” Robert said matter-of-factly. “I wouldn’t put it past any of them to have a hand in it. So, what do you think Stevens is doing then while he’s not showing up for work?”
“I don’t know. I just wish that Kevin had kept a closer eye on them when they went to town together to drop off the shipment,” Michael said.
“Since then, the shipments have been better. I don’t know when they’re handing the ore off to their buyer.
Stevens must be doing that while the others stay at the smelter and act like nothing is happening.
It’s the only thing that makes sense. Otherwise, he is the sickliest person I know. ”
Robert shrugged. “It could be that he’s meeting buyers. But then it has to be close for him to slip in and out like that.” He sighed. “Pity there’s no proof, no trail, nothing. We’re spitting in the dark.”
“If only we could just find something about who they’re selling the copper to or where they’re stashing the money they make.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Robert said with rock-solid certainty. “And with this paperwork already done, it will be that much easier to have them carted off to prison in Yuma at that point, however many there are of them.”
Michael had to admit he liked the sound of that.
In the weeks that he and Robert had been snooping around the smelter, they hadn’t found much proof of anything, but they had managed to come up with plenty of theories, some a lot more likely than others.
As Robert put it, there was nothing that would stand up in a court of law and prove that Perez, Stevens, or any of the others were guilty of anything but gross negligence.
What they needed to do was catch them red-handed, selling the copper to their buyer. Perez rarely set foot outside the camp. He didn’t even go on supply runs to San Antonio. That left Adams and Stevens—and Michael’s money was on Stevens.
“You know, he’s not at the smelter now,” Michael said.
“Who isn’t?” Robert asked.
“Stevens,” Michael said, realization hitting him. “We might be able to catch him red-handed right now.”
Robert raised his brows. “You think so?”
Michael nodded. “Yes, I do. Come on!”
“But where do we look?” Robert asked.
Michael didn’t know, but he had to take the chance and try. “If we take a walk,” he suggested. “Maybe something will come to us.”
“Okay,” Robert said. He rose from his desk and slipped his pistol into the holster on his hip.
Not knowing where to start, Michael and Robert just walked around aimlessly until Michael had a moment of brilliance. He stopped at the lookout tower in town. Several of the children were up there at the moment. It was the holidays, and they liked being high up, looking down on everyone.
“Hey!” Michael called up to them, squinting in the patchy sunshine. Thick dark clouds had been blown up from the horizon and were scudding swiftly across the sky.
A head poked over the side of the lookout post. It was Bruno. His dark, curly hair hung around his face like a wobbly halo. “Yeah?” he asked.
“I’m looking for someone,” Michael said. “I was wondering if you’d seen Ryan Stevens.”
“Stevens?” Bruno repeated. “Gee, I don’t know. I haven’t been up here long. Will, have you seen Stevens today?”
“Yeah, sure,” another voice said. “Why?”
“Michael’s asking,” Bruno said.
“Oh?” Will asked as he peered over the side of the lookout tower. “Hi, Mike.”
“Hi, Will,” Michael said. “Have you seen Stevens?”
The young man, who was turning eighteen in a month, nodded. “Yeah, he went in the direction of the woods, I think. Hold on … Yes, he went that way, I’m pretty sure.”
“Thanks,” Michael said, and he and Robert headed to that side of the camp. There was a narrow path on that side, where the traps were disconnected during the day and reconnected in the evening.
They made their way along the path and, rounding a corner, Michael walked right into Stevens, who was hurrying the other way. He was looking down at his feet, and when he bumped into Michael, his face went pale, his eyes went wide, and he let out a yell of surprise.
There was a moment when no one seemed to know what to do. Michael and Stevens just stared at each other. Then Stevens seemed to recover and laughed.
“Wasn’t expecting to bump into you,” the man said, trying to edge around them.
“Why not?” Robert asked, making sure to stand where he and Michael blocked the way.
Stevens frowned.
“Where were you?” Robert asked.
“Just out for a walk,” Stevens said with a nonchalant shrug.
“When you have a shift at the smelter?” Michael asked, managing to recover his power of speech.
Stevens bit his lip. “Gee, I forgot. Sorry about that, boss. I’ll get there right now.” He made to move past them.
Again, Robert blocked his way.
“I don’t think so,” Robert said. “It’s time to come clean. We know you’ve been up to no good.”
Moving with lightning speed, Stevens turned on his heel and ran back the way he had come.
“Hey!” Michael cried out. “Where are you going?”
Robert pushed past Michael and followed, running in a flat-out sprint.
Michael hurried after them. Didn’t Stevens realize that by running he was admitting he was the one who had stolen the copper? Why not talk it through? Andrew was a fair-minded man. They all were. Surely Stevens didn’t think that by running away, things would get better. Where could he go, anyway?
Michael had thought Stevens would try to talk his way out of trouble. He had every other time he’d been tardy for work or not shown up at all. Why this? Why run away?
Michael put on a burst of speed to keep up, but he was starting to feel quite winded.
Stevens hopped through the traps and out into the open ground, heading away from the camp as though he were a jackrabbit bounding over the ground. Robert cleared the traps, and Michael brought up the rear, forcing his legs and lungs to work harder as he pushed to catch up.
They were heading down a slope toward the creek, and Robert was gaining on Stevens. He covered the ground between them and tackled the man to the ground. They went down in a mess of legs and arms, and Stevens came up fighting.