Ronnie, his gun in his fist, took hold of the doorknob. ‘We’re comin’ out!’ He shouted. ‘Prepare to die!’
The door was thrown wide, he and Gaskell charged forward . . .
A volley of gunfire filled the air!
Wyatt and Fielding stood over the two bodies. Both men had gone down in the hail of bullets, neither getting off a decent shot of their own.
‘Guess there will be no trial for these two,’ Fielding said.
‘The lawyer, Sayles, he said the bank holds the deed to the mine and some of the holdings. They will have to figure a way to get this place back into operation.’
‘Without the prisoners and contracted workers, they are going to need to hire about a hundred people.’
Wyatt added: ‘I’m sure many of those living here will stick around for a while. After all, the wages will be pretty good so long as the mine continues to turn out high-grade ore.’
Shane entered the room wearing a wide grin. ‘Not a single one of our men was injured in the shoot-out.’
‘Because you Valerons took out most of the opposition,’ Fielding extolled the plan. ‘Most of the resistance had their hands lifted before we entered town.’
‘We got lucky,’ Wyatt admitted.
Fielding looked around. ‘Where’s Jared?’
‘The lookout we took out first worked himself free,’ Shane informed them sheepishly. ‘Jerry grabbed up his horse and went after him.’
‘Pretty sloppy job with a full length of rope,’ Wyatt said, looking at Shane. ‘Gonna have to put you on the branding crew so you can learn to tie someone off properly.’
‘Hey, we were in a hurry!’ Shane protested. ‘Besides which, he looked like his lights would be out all night long. Jer hit him pretty good with that steel ball.’
‘Well,’ Fielding took charge, ‘let’s get the enforcers and other gunmen locked away for the night. We will take turns on guard – at least two men on watch at all times – then head for town after we sort out the prison laborers tomorrow. A good many of the convicts will likely get an early release, so I doubt we’ll have any trouble with them.’
‘And the contracted employees?’ Shane wanted to know.
‘They can stay on for wages for the time being. Once the bank appoints someone to oversee the holdings, they will have the option of working here or moving on.’
‘Sounds like you’ve got everything figured out,’ Wyatt praised Fielding.
‘Yeah, well, I’ll leave Officer Munson to work with Parker Sayles. The two of them can watch over the place until the bank takes over. That will keep any of the rest of us from having to stick around.’
‘I hope Jer doesn’t get lost in the dark,’ Shane said. ‘I know he’s the best tracker in the country, but it’s going on to full dark.’
‘He’ll probably be back by the time we pull out . . .’ Wyatt opined, ‘Or he will meet us in Denver. Jerry knows what he’s doing.’
Chapter Eleven
Other than the Valeron group, only the required people attended the hearing for Mikki’s guardianship: the judge, a clerk, a deputy marshal and the two attorneys for Elmer Baddon. As the time for the hearing approached, Elmer did not yet put in an appearance. Finally, the judge pulled out his pocket watch and stared at the pair of out-of-town, extremely expensive lawyers.
‘Do you expect Mr Baddon directly?’ the magistrate asked. ‘I don’t look with favor on those who keep the court waiting.’
‘I don’t know where he can be,’ the lead attorney said. ‘We conferred with Mr Baddon over dinner last night. He seemed most anxious to get this over with. I can’t imagine . . .’
He paused as the door to the courtroom opened. It was not Elmer, however, but one of the city policemen. He carried a wrinkled sheet of paper in his hand.
‘If you’ll pardon the interruption, Your Honor,’ the lawman said. ‘I have something you should see.’
He gestured the man to come forward, listened to him as he spoke in a hushed voice, then accepted the parchment. When he looked at it, his mouth fell open in shock.
‘What do you know of this?’ he demanded of the policeman.
‘There have been rumors about Mr Baddon, but no one has ever produced enough proof to charge him with a crime.’
Mikki’s attorney patted her arm in a show of support and rose to his feet. ‘Your Honor,’ Lloyd asked, ‘might I inquire as to if this interruption is related to our case?’
The judge gave an affirmative nod. ‘I believe this note and new information will have a direct bearing on the current issue before the court.’
Everyone in the room waited in such silence one might have heard the sneeze of a gnat. Then the magistrate held up the paper. ‘This message reads: I am a child molester and was responsible for the deaths of Gina Lopez and her unborn child.
The judge laid the note aside and addressed the lawman. ‘State for the court where you found this note?’
‘It was pinned to the chest of Elmer Baddon,’ the policeman declared. ‘He was found hanging from a tree not a hundred yards from his house.’
‘Have you begun the hunt for his killer?’
‘We searched all around the area but couldn’t find a scrap of evidence. Near as we could tell, it appears as if Mr Baddon hung himself. We didn’t find a single track of anyone else, and the fancy braided rope was from one of the window drapes in his house.’
‘I trust your department will do a thorough investigation,’ the judge said.
‘Yes, sir, Your Honor. A couple of the men are still at the scene.’
Turning to the case in hand, the man wearing the black robe raised his gavel. ‘Pursuant with this tragic event, the guardianship of Mikki Bruckner is hereby granted to Locke and Wanetta Valeron. They shall have custody of her until the age of twenty-one or at such time as she should wed.’ He brought down the gavel. ‘This court is adjourned.’
Mikki threw her arms around Locke’s neck, then turned to Cliff and did the same. She was ecstatic, practically bubbling over with the thrill of the court decision and being free of the clutches of Elmer Baddon.
‘How about that?’ Locke spoke to Wendy. ‘Perhaps the man was afraid Mikki would tell the truth about him?’
‘Could be,’ Wendy replied. ‘The filthy, debauched vermin has been molesting children for years. Even if there wasn’t any proof, everyone would know his dirty secret.’
‘As the girl, Gina Lopez, died at sixteen and was with child, that would support any charge Mikki might have made,’ Cliff agreed. ‘The guy should have been drawn and quartered back when she died!’
‘Most importantly,’ Wendy said, ‘He will never hurt a child ever again.’
Locke displayed gratification. ‘You’re right, my very charming daughter. Justice for his heinous crimes took too long coming, but it is done.’ Then with a narrow look, ‘And it’s a relief to know Jared was twenty miles away, up at Paradise. I’ll bet he has an ironclad alibi.’
Wendy displayed complete naivety. ‘It’s an obvious suicide, Daddy. Jerry doesn’t need an alibi. Besides which, he has been working with Brett, Shane and Wyatt. They are all working with the police to eliminating the indentures and crimes at the town of Paradise. There’s no way he could have been involved in this.’
‘Just an observation, daughter,’ Locke replied. Then on to another subject. ‘Can we still expect an announcement at your party?’
‘Only if you get me home in time to have the party.’
‘Riders coming in,’ Cliff called from the courthouse doorway. ‘Looks like Jer, Shane and Wyatt are all in one piece. Them and the lawmen have a small army of prisoners and other people in tow.’
‘Let’s go greet them, Daddy,’ Wendy chirped gleefully. ‘We’ve got great news to tell them about Mikki!’
‘I’m sure it will come as a great relief to all of the boys,’ Locke said.
As the small cavalcade approached, Jared, Shane and Wyatt broke off from the others. The prisoner next to Fielding could b
e overheard complaining about his head.
‘I tell yuh, I don’t ’member a thing. I can’t figure how I got so far into the hills, not after being hit in the head by that there steel ball.’
‘It doesn’t matter now,’ Fielding replied back. ‘Valeron run you to ground and you’re going to jail along with the rest of Gaskell’s toughs.’
‘I sure don’t feel tough no more,’ he whined. ‘My head is killing me.’
‘Welcome back, boys!’ Locke greeted them. ‘Looks like everything turned out fine.’
‘Fielding has a lot of sorting to do with all of the prisoners who were working at Paradise,’ Wyatt spoke up. ‘Not to mention, we’ve eight men in custody who are facing charges.’
‘Gaskell took the easy way out,’ Shane added. ‘Him and a few of his henchmen died fighting.’
‘How about the hearing?’ Jared wanted to know.
‘Yeah,’ Wyatt joined in. ‘I see the nanny is with you. Did you win the case or get some kind of extension?’
‘Elmer Baddon apparently hanged himself last night,’ Cliff told them. ‘He stuck a note to his shirt admitting to being a child molester and being responsible for the death of a young girl and her unborn child.’
‘The hell you say!’ Wyatt declared. ‘Durned if that don’t save me the trouble of killing him.’
‘You would have had to stand in line behind me,’ Jared avowed. ‘I was looking forward to feeding that child abuser a few ounces of lead.’
Cliff put his arm around Mikki’s shoulders. ‘See what I told you?’ he said. ‘We Valerons are men of our words. Ain’t no way Elmer was ever going to get his grubby hands on you again.’
Mikki laughed happily. ‘I’ll never doubt your word again, Clifford.’
‘Enough of this mundane chatter,’ Wendy spoke up. ‘We’ve got a train to catch. Now that everything is copacetic, I don’t intend to miss my own birthday party!’
Valerons--Beyond the Law! Page 13
