Chapter 14
“He’s gone,” Sheriff Rafferty said sulkily as they reached his office. “Brett’s gone. Now, I know you’re going to ask me how, but I can’t say, because I just don’t know.”
He unlocked the office door and pushed it open, allowing Mac to enter first. Warren and Michael went in after him with the sheriff coming in last. He closed the door behind them, but didn’t lock it.
“The cells are in the back,” he said, tiredly flinging his hat onto his desk, where it dripped rain onto the empty surface. “I just thought you might like to know.”
“He must have had help,” Michael offered, looking around. “Anyone here particularly friendly with Brett?”
“Do you keep your office locked when you’re not here?” Warren asked, inspecting the door.
There was only one way into this place, and that meant there was only one way out. If there were any clues as to what happened, they might be evident in the lock on the door. If it had been picked, there would be scratches.
“I left it open this morning so that Mrs. Schmidt could come and clean and give Brett his breakfast. When I came back from taking care of things in town, she was knocked out on the floor, and he was missing.”
“Is she all right?” Warren asked.
“Mrs. Schmidt? Yes, she’s at the apothecary now,” Sheriff Rafferty said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“Look, it’s clear what happened. He convinced her to let him out before hitting her on the head.
He’s on the run and probably halfway to California by now.
I wanted you all to see so that you could rule him out of anything to come. He’s done.”
“How can you be so sure?” Warren asked.
“Well, while you and Dorothy were working so diligently yesterday,” Mac began with a grin, “Michael and I had a meeting with all the boys who were arrested with Brett and those who wanted to return to their families.”
“It was quite the meeting,” Michael added.
“We found out that the reason most of them went to Brett in the first place is that he was offering them a way to make money. There isn’t a lot of it here.
Despite the logging and the hotel, there’s not a lot to go around.
And all of those young men were feeling like they didn’t matter and didn’t have prospects until Brett came in, offering a place to belong. A future.”
“He talked big,” Mac said with a nod and a sad look. “I’ve been so distracted lately, so I can’t help but think this was all my fault. If I had been paying attention, then I would have seen the signs.”
“You can’t blame yourself, Mac,” Sheriff Rafferty said. “It’s my fault too. I … I have not been a good sheriff.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Mac said. “You wanted to give him a chance and then it was too late.”
Sheriff Rafferty looked as though he had been about to say something else, but he nodded. “Yeah, that’s what happened.”
Warren frowned and walked over to the cell to inspect it. He still didn’t understand what was going on, and he was supposed to meet with Dorothy. He hoped she would understand his tardiness. “I still don’t understand how we ended up here, with Brett gone.”
“Well, yesterday, Mac made some promises,” Michael said. “Some of which he made good on today.”
“I hired several of Brett’s boys this morning to work in the hotel.
We’re going to have more clients soon, because of the season, and the boys can benefit from that.
I’ve got them fixing things and doing some of the carrying and serving.
Nothing too exciting or with too much responsibility; that will come with time. ”
“Is that wise?” a voice asked from the doorway.
Warren smiled as Dorothy stepped inside. “You found us.”
“Yes, it just took a little detective work,” she said, smiling back at him. “So, what is this about you employing criminals in the hotel? Do you really think that’s a good idea?”
“They were only engaging in criminal activities because they were desperate,” Mac said.
Dorothy nodded. “Okay. Who is keeping an eye on these supposedly reformed criminals?”
“All of my staff,” Mac said with confidence.
Warren was concerned. This wasn’t a smart move. Having those boys stationed around the hotel meant they could get into places they wouldn’t normally be able to access. “And you’re sure they’re not loyal to Brett anymore? It just seems kind of fishy to me.”
Michael nodded. “I thought the same thing,” he said. “Why would they give him up so easily?”
“Actually, it’s not just that that’s bothering me,” Warren said, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. If there was one thing he was very good at, it was following trails, sniffing out breadcrumbs, and finding the thing that didn’t fit.
Warren walked to the middle of the room and turned to look at them all.
“I’ve been wondering why Brett attacked the town at the bonfire lighting.
It seems like a rather foolish thing to do.
With everyone there, including the sheriff and Mac only a quick few steps away, it didn’t make sense.
He’d mostly done a few small things, raids and the like, when those who could stop him weren’t around.
And yet he chose such a public, busy festival. ”
“Okay,” Michael said with a nod as he leaned against the sheriff’s desk. He folded his arms. “I take it there’s more?”
“Of course,” Warren said. “This whole situation is a web. I can’t see the full thing yet, or who the spider is sitting in the middle of it, but … There is one. All of this is not random. Someone is playing an intricate game of chess with us all, but to what end? That I can’t work out.”
“The accounts,” Dorothy said. “It’s the funding, isn’t it?”
Warren nodded. “I believe so.”
“Well, I’m lost,” Rafferty said, throwing his arms up. “Spiders and webs. It’s a load of hooey. There’s no spider pulling any threads. There’s a young rascal who caused some trouble and has now left town. Thank the Lord! Let’s move on with our lives.”
As he spoke, he began to usher them all to the door. “If you don’t mind, I have work to be getting on with.”
Mac frowned. “You don’t want to hear what Warren has worked out? He’s a genius. That’s why I insisted that Michael hire him for the mine. The man can jump through mental hoops without breaking a sweat. The only other man I’ve ever known who could do that is Alessandro Bernini.”
“Who is that?” Michael asked. “The name sounds familiar.”
“It should be,” Mac said, turning to him as they were pushed onto the street in the rain. “You’ve met him, Michael. Before you left for Texas with Andrew and your brothers, we had that fundraiser. Don’t you recall?” He walked along, getting soaked but not apparently caring.
Warren followed, walking beside Dorothy. He smiled at her, and they briefly held hands. It felt so good to have her beside him again.
“Oh, right, I’d forgotten about that,” Michael said. “He was the Italian fellow.”
They were approaching the hotel now, and Warren was quite grateful for it. He would have to go and change his clothes again for the second time that day. Hopefully, they would dry in his room where he had hung the others over the furniture.
“Ah, Mac! There you are!” a familiar voice called.
Warren shot a surprised look at Dorothy. “Devlin’s here?”
“I came to warn Mac, but I guess I got so swept up in all that talk about Brett and escapes and webs,” Dorothy said.
“He knows now,” Warren pointed out.
She shot him a less-than-impressed look.
He shrugged. “Sorry.”
They hurried inside and stood dripping in the entrance hall.
Devlin and Mac shook hands. Devlin hadn’t let travel upset the magnificent curl of his sandy-colored mustache.
Warren wondered once again how the man did it.
It had to be wax or something to make it so perfect.
It looked as though it was made of painted clay and glued to his lip.
“I had to come,” Devlin was saying. “There are so many things that need to be taken care of, Douglas. You simply have to give me some of your time. I understand that things are happening here, but things are happening in the firm too. You must understand.”
“I do, Jude,” Mac nodded. “Come to my office.” He turned to the rest of them. “We can pick this discussion up later.”
Michael nodded. “Of course. Good to see you again, Mr. Devlin.”
Devlin nodded. “And you.”
He and Mac strode into Mac’s office.
“He’s sopping wet!” Dorothy protested. “He’ll catch his death. I’m going to send a maid in with a towel and a change of shirt, at least.”
While she headed off to do that, he and Michael headed to their rooms and, for the second time, Warren changed into dry clothes.
He met Michael in the restaurant bar afterward, where they found a small table and ordered coffee and a glass of whiskey each. The drinks were brought to the table by a young man with an ugly black eye. One of Brett’s reformed young men.
“Thank you,” Warren said.
The young man had a half-sneering, half-smiling look on his face that set Warren’s nerves on edge.
“Okay, you’re obviously dying to tell me, so go on. What did you find in the ledgers?” Michael asked as he sipped his coffee.
Warren was happy to tell his friend exactly what he’d found. Two accounts had money going into them on a regular basis from various other accounts, and then the money was moved out of the account under seemingly normal expense codes, but which seemed out of place.
“Do you think it’s simple embezzlement?” Michael asked when Warren was done.
Warren shrugged. “I can’t say. I don’t know. I suspect it’s not just that, but I have no proof of anything.”
“Your web theory?” Michael asked.
Warren nodded. “Recent events seem too … convenient. We’ve had no word from home that anything untoward is happening. Does that mean that El Aguila has decided to leave us alone? I don’t think so. When you factor that into this New York picture, it changes the landscape, don’t you think?”
Michael frowned for a moment, thinking.
Warren waited, sipping his coffee.
“He knows,” Michael said suddenly, his eyes wide. “El Aguila knows we’re here.”
Warren nodded. It was the conclusion he had slowly arrived at over the last few days. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. He’s got his claws in the firm.”
“That no good louse!” Michael exclaimed. There were quite a few gentlemen sitting in the bar section, and Michael’s outburst caused most of them to turn and frown at them.
Leaning in close, Warren said, “Perhaps not quite so loud.”
“Yes, yes, I know,” Michael said hotly. “How did he do it?”
“He’s been investigating us for the last year at least, I’ll guess.
You have to admit we haven’t hidden our identities, have we?
Our business and personal connections are all there to be found.
We make regular deposits into the firm’s bank account every month from the sale of the copper.
If you think about it, finding out who holds our purse strings wouldn’t be difficult at all.
One bribe here, a little intimidation there, and El Aguila knows more about us than we know about him.
I don’t suppose approaching the firm was all that difficult either.
Perhaps he found a disgruntled employee and voilà, he had his mole.
With that person in his pocket, he could find out about Mac and his troubles and orchestrate more of them. ”
Michael looked stunned. “You got all of that from some ledgers?”
“Yes, and some extrapolation, a little critical thinking, and some common sense,” Warren said with a chuckle.
“It’s not that difficult a conclusion to reach, is it?
Of course, I have no proof at all. El Aguila’s hand isn’t obvious in any of this.
It’s just my assumptions and imagination running wild. ”
“But the pieces seem to fit,” Michael said. “You’re right. Every bit of news we’ve had from home says that everything is fine. But how can that be? Why isn’t he attacking Unity and the mine any longer?”
“Because if he did and we got word, we could perhaps rally some swift support here,” Warren said.
“Think about it. Burning homes and sabotaging the mine might catapult Mac into instant action, and El Aguila wants us cut off from help. He wants us there alone and outnumbered, to make life easier for him.”
Michael finished his coffee. “Well, that’s not great.”
Warren shook his head. “If only I had some idea what game he was playing. I just can’t see how Brett helps except to distract Mac. And why is Devlin here? Why is Mac so accepting of him?”
“I was wondering about that too,” Michael said. “Oh, here they come. They look remarkably happy.”
“What do you suppose that means?”
Michael shrugged.
Mac and Devlin stood at the bar, ordering. They were both grinning in a way that seemed vaguely ominous to Warren.
The young man who had brought their drinks stepped out from the door beside the bar, followed by another. Neither had a tray in their hands. That was the first thing that Warren noticed. Then he realized there was something metallic in one man’s hand and instinct took over.
Moving with a speed he didn’t know he possessed, Warren dashed forward.
He knocked his chair over as he ran toward the young man.
With a crunch, he connected with the boy’s side, knocking him off balance.
The gun fired and the world went silent on one side of Warren’s head.
A high-pitched ringing sounded and he was terribly disoriented.
Had the bullet hit someone? He wasn’t even sure if it had hit him, his head was so fuzzy.
It took a moment to realize the man was trying to wrestle the gun from Warren’s grasp.
Warren hung on tightly and used his greater weight and strength to run the man into the wall beside the door he’d just emerged through.
There was a sickening crack, which Warren could only hear with one ear, and the man went down in a heap.
The gun fell from his limp fingers and clattered on the floor.
Rolling off him and sitting up gingerly, pawing at his ringing right ear, Warren watched Michael hurl a full glass of whiskey at another of their assailants.
The heavy glass struck the man on the side of the head, and he staggered backward. Michael charged forward and slammed him against the wall. The young man knocked his head and fell to the ground.
Bang!
A gun fired and some plaster chips from the ceiling fell to the floor. Warren turned his head to see who had fired. To his great surprise, he saw Brett standing in the middle of the bar, looking very happy with himself.
“Nobody move! This hotel belongs to me now!” Brett cried. Taking a step forward, he slammed the butt of his gun into Mac’s head. The old man crumpled to the floor and lay there, not moving.