As Sam was finishing up his tour, Rosalind looked out the back window to see Hawk returning to the assayer’s office. Hopefully, he had good news. She bid the Sawyers goodbye, then returned to the assayer’s office. The best thing about Sam giving her a tour was realizing that Hawk and Johnny had made a great deal more progress on the boarding house than he’d been letting on. Her mother’s room was nearly complete, minus the finishing details. And while all the other rooms still had minor touches that needed to be done, and a few more walls that needed to be finished, they could almost move in now. Perhaps they could have Thanksgiving in the boarding house after all.
As she rounded the corner from the boarding house toward the assayer’s office, she spied two men arguing in the shadows.
“I told you, it’s too dangerous for us to move forward with the plan. I overheard Draven telling Charlie that the marshal friend of his would be returning soon and that he was bringing more lawmen.”
The men were in the shadows, so she couldn’t tell who they were, and though it was tempting to move closer to get a better look, she remembered the warnings she’d been given about these people being dangerous.
“This would be a death blow to Noelle,” the other man said. “We might be under orders to wrap up the operation, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go out with a final bang.”
Whose orders? Rosalind pressed herself closer to the building, hoping the men would speak more freely, giving her more information.
“The boss said the train has to arrive next week or else.”
The other man gave a nasty laugh, one that was so unmistakable that if she heard again, she’d know the man. But that wasn’t enough. In all of her time working with the railroad men, she hadn’t heard such a laugh. Which meant she might not hear it again. She scooted a little closer.
“He said the track has to be completed so the train can come through. But what if the train met with a little accident before it arrived? Everyone’s supplies will be on that train. If it all went crashing down the mountain, many would have no choice but to pack up and leave.”
So the plan was to drive people out of Noelle. But she didn’t have any answers as to who would want that to happen.
“But if innocent people are killed, there’s going to be a bigger investigation. It was hard enough getting rid of Hawk, so how do you think we’re going to deal with even more? No one cares about that stupid laborer who almost caught us with the bridge. But we don’t know who’s going to be on that train, and with that many people, I'm not sure we can control the investigation so easily.”
A tiny sob escaped Rosalind’s throat at the thought of her father being dismissed as worthless. She covered her mouth, but the men must’ve heard her.
“What was that?” one of them asked.
“I don’t know,” said the other. “But we shouldn’t be talking about this here. We shouldn’t even be seen together.”
He darted around the other side of the building, but his companion stood there for a few minutes, looking around like he was trying to figure out who or what they’d heard. Rosalind sent a quick prayer that she wouldn’t be discovered. Finally, the man turned, heading back into the shadows and away from Rosalind. It wasn’t enough to identify him, but at least she got more information, and hopefully, Hawk could make sense of it.
She slowly backed out of the space, looking around to make sure the men hadn’t returned. When she was sure no one was watching, Rosalind crossed back over to the street and the assayer’s office.
When she entered the building, Hawk said, “Where were you? I thought I saw you leave the boarding house, but it took you too long to get here. I was beginning to get worried.”
She filled them in on what she’d witnessed. But at her description of the man’s laugh, Hawk rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “The only person I know with a strange laugh like that is Augustus Higginbotham. He’s a hired gun without a conscience, and his face is on so many wanted posters that, if it is him, every lawman in the country would be here to claim the bounty on his head. I’m not sure he’d be so careless as to come here. Most people assume he’s crossed the border into Mexico because he hasn’t been seen in so long.”
“Or he’s been laying low in Noelle on the railroad crew,” Rosalind said. “You yourself have said that the worst of the worst seemed to have been attracted to this job.”
Hawk shook his head. “But I would know Higginbotham. I arrested him before, and he’d still be in jail if he hadn’t broken out shortly before his trial. But it bears looking into. I’ll speak with Draven and see if he has heard anything, or if he can get word to Gant. Gant has always been frustrated that Higginbotham got away.”
Rosalind puffed up slightly at the idea that she might have been able to provide a clue as to who was behind these dastardly deeds. But then Hawk shook his head at her. “I told you to stay out of this though. If that was Higginbotham, and he’d seen you, he’d have had no problem slitting your throat. If you think my reputation was bad, you should hear the stories about him. He takes pleasure in hurting people, especially women.”
She hoped Moses wouldn’t tell Hawk about their conversation. Hawk’s chastisement of her had her feeling like a child, and it seemed especially unfair considering she hadn’t gone looking for trouble, but she walked right into it. Surely that had to count for something.
“I’m sorry,” Hawk said, as if he realized he’d wounded her. “I know you’re just trying to help, and I do appreciate you coming to me. But what you’ve told me has me even more concerned for everyone’s safety. Even if it’s not Higginbotham, the fact that a man would take pleasure in the idea of causing a train accident bothers me. If a man’s only concern for innocent victims is the potential for trouble, you know he’s dangerous.”
She hadn’t thought of it that way. But remembering the conversation she’d heard from those men, they’d given her an unsettled feeling, like they were more unstable than most criminals.
“And I’m sorry too,” she said. “I didn’t mean to put myself in danger, however, in this case, if what you say about these men is true, and I had left as soon as I realized something nefarious was going on, they could have easily killed me just because they thought I’d heard something I shouldn’t have.” She took a deep breath. “Maybe that’s what got my father killed.”
That was the most sobering thought of all. Everyone had liked her father. And until that day, she would’ve never thought anyone would have had reason to kill him. And now, just the idea of stumbling on someone or something dangerous was enough to have everyone on edge. Hopefully, all these new leads would lead to them solving the crime so everyone could be safe once more.
15
A whole lot of nothing. That’s what the past two weeks of investigation had led to. The train would be arriving in the morning, and because of the conversation Rosalind had overheard, federal marshals and lawmen would be posted both on the train and along the route to make sure nothing happened. You’d almost think they were delivering a shipment of gold or silver with the amount of security involved. Which should have made Hawk feel better, but it only made the uneasy feeling worse.
The Crearys had finally moved into the boarding house, and with Thanksgiving only a couple of weeks away, it seemed like at least in that regard, the family was finding some level of happiness at last. They would be having Thanksgiving in the boarding house, and Rosalind had invited a number of the people she’d gotten to know in town.
With the living quarters at the assayer’s office empty, Hawk had moved in there, and set up a temporary office of sorts where he could sort through information and clues, trying to figure out who could be involved. David, the man who’d been fired for speaking out about his displeasure with being accused of negligence when the railroad had been sabotaged, had connected Hawk with some of the other men who were unhappy with the way the railroad had been treating the sabotage. They’d been using Nacho’s as a place for passing messages secretly so no one would realiz
e that anyone working on the railroad was talking to Hawk.
He closed the folder with the notes he’d been reviewing and stuck it in his desk drawer, then prepared to go over to Nacho’s to see if any new messages had been left for him. Though he hated putting his friends in danger, everyone assured him that because Nacho’s was so popular, no one would suspect what was going on.
When he arrived, Fina greeted him warmly. “You’ll love our special today,” she said. “There’s nothing new on the menu, but I know how much you like our specials.”
Nothing new on the menu meant that no messages had been left for him. Hawk sighed and took a seat. “You know how I love the special,” he said.
Fina patted his shoulder. “Some food will do you good. You’re looking entirely too thin these days. And I don’t think you’re sleeping much, at least judging from the dark circles under your eyes. You need to take better care of yourself. You do no one any good when you’re so worn out.”
He smiled at her, then nodded. “After the train arrives tomorrow, I’ll feel better.”
She clicked her tongue as she walked away to get his food. The door to the restaurant opened, and Moses entered. “I think I know what they have planned,” he said.
Hawk motioned for him to sit, then caught Fina’s eye and indicated for her to bring some food to him as well.
“We were told to stay away from a section of the track, even though we’re supposed to check the entire track to make sure everything is safe. I tried to go over there because I assumed I had been mistaken, but two men with guns waved me off. I told Brian, and he said those were his men, and to listen to them. He said that area had already been checked. But why would anyone not want something to be double checked?”
Why would they be so obvious?
“Who else was with you?” Hawk asked.
“No one. I’d been checking the track near the bridge, but there were so many men making sure that everything was safe with the bridge, I thought I would head over to the curve that had given us so much trouble just to double check that everything was all right.”
Hawk remembered the curve. It would be easy enough to tamper with the track in that area, and if the train derailed there, everything on it would go tumbling down the mountain. A perfect place to ruin everything for Noelle.
Unfortunately, even though Draven had sent out dozens of telegrams, trying to find any information on Higginbotham, they could neither prove nor disprove that he was nearby.
But now that they had some idea of what the plan might be, it didn’t matter if they knew who they were looking for because the who would show themselves soon enough.
As Fina brought their food, Draven entered the restaurant, making a beeline for them.
“Gant has confirmed that he has a number of undercover men both on the train and in the surrounding areas. When the train departs for Noelle in the morning, it will be well protected. We let different details slip to different people, so if there is a leak somewhere, it will be easy for us to figure out the source. Gant’s superiors are extremely concerned about the situation. Although many of the railroads are faced with varying levels of corruption, if we are correct about Stiles and Sharp intentionally tampering with the railroad to create delays to drive down land prices, they want to put a stop to it and send a very strong message to anyone else who might consider such a heinous deed.”
Hawk looked around. “Should we be talking about this here? I know we often discuss business here, but this seems to be more dangerous if it’s overheard.”
Draven chuckled. “You don’t think you’re getting all the correct information, do you? With the accusations against you, Gant’s superiors are not comfortable with you having all of the information, either.”
Hawk could guess who those superiors were. And he was sure that their prejudice against him wasn’t just about the rumors. When he turned in his badge to go after Beth’s remaining killer, many of the men he’d once worked with and trusted all thought he’d gone crazy. And maybe he had. But crazy or not, he could still do this job.
“That’s fine,” Hawk said. “And even though I’m innocent, I would hate for something to go wrong and be blamed for it. Besides, Moses here came to me with some important information, and I think we know where it’s going down.”
Draven looked around the restaurant. No one appeared to be paying attention to them, but Hawk had often gotten information by pretending to be a disinterested passerby.
“We’d better talk about this in my office then. But I also don’t want people thinking that we’ve got something big. So you two enjoy the rest of your dinner, go about your evening casually, then later come by the office. I want whoever is planning something to feel confident in their plans so that they don’t go canceling them at the last minute. It may be that they hear about the additional cautions we’re taking and cancel anyway. But I’d rather not spend any more time looking over our shoulders, wondering who is out to destroy Noelle.”
What he said made sense, and Hawk had to agree. He was tired of the guessing game, and he was looking forward to catching the culprits in action.
Moses shot him a glare like he knew exactly what Hawk was thinking. And while part of him could feel that desire to exact his revenge coursing through his veins, he knew that if he stepped out of line, even just a little, he’d be hanging from a noose before his time. It wasn’t that he feared the hangman because he didn’t. He’d seen enough hangings to know that it was a quick and easy death. But having earned his place in the hereafter for all of his other bad deeds, he didn’t want to lose his life and not to have avenged Beth’s death.
“I’ll behave,” he told Moses. “There are larger things at stake.”
Draven studied him. “I hope you’re right about that,” he said. “I’ve taken a big risk in vouching for you, don’t make me regret it.”
Draven had vouched for him?
The other man must’ve noticed his surprise because he said, “You’ve kept your word to me since coming to Noelle. Any trouble you’ve been in hasn’t been of your making, and I’ve seen how you’ve worked to defuse many of the situations. I don’t believe the rumors about you, but I also know that it’s going to take time for you to prove yourself to everyone else. Gant’s superiors aren’t convinced you’ve changed. But Noelle has a way of changing a person, and I think it’s had an impact on you.”
He didn’t deserve such fine praise. And he didn’t agree with Draven’s words about him having changed. Deep down, Hawk was still the same man, with the same desire for another man’s blood.
But even as he had that thought, he couldn’t help realizing that, unlike in the past, Beth wasn’t the first thing on his mind when he woke. He didn’t find himself drifting off into fantasies of what he was going to do to Beth’s killer before Hawk ended his life. But that was just because he was so focused on finding justice for someone else.
Draven gave him another look as if he knew the direction of Hawk’s thoughts and was silently challenging him, calling him a liar. But that was ridiculous. Draven didn’t know anything about Hawk. Nor could he read another man’s thoughts. It was just Hawk, being fanciful about things he had no business thinking about. Which was why he wasn’t even letting them fully come to mind.
Without pressing the issue, Draven left, but he cast a look over his shoulder as if to warn Hawk that they weren’t done having this conversation.
Hawk and Moses finished their meal, then went their separate ways. Hawk figured he’d spend some time in and out of the shops before swinging back around and stopping at the sheriff’s office. But as he passed Sheridan’s hardware, Sol and some of his cronies were sitting outside, and Sol called out to him. “What are you going to do this time to ruin the railroad?”
It was too bad Moses and Draven weren’t present to see Hawk’s lack of reaction. As much as he wanted to tell the loudmouth exactly what he thought of him, Hawk kept on walking. One of Sol’s buddies stepped in his path. “The gentleman as
ked you a question,” he said.
“None of the answers I have to give will make you happy,” Hawk said, keeping his voice calm and steady.
“I don’t know why the sheriff hasn’t locked you up yet for tampering with the bridge,” Sol said. “The least he could do is lock you up tonight until the train comes so that you can’t ruin things again. I have an important shipment on that train, and I don’t want anything to happen to it.”
“Everyone in the town has an important shipment on the train,” Hawk said. “Including me.”
Maybe not specifically him, but Arthur had made arrangements for the boarding house windows to be on the train. Some of his men were personally escorting the shipment which also included some items his wife felt that Minnie’s home could not do without.
“Until someone pays you to destroy it. What’s your price, Hawk?” Sol stepped closer to him, looking like he was spoiling for a fight.
“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. We all want the same thing, so rather than fighting amongst ourselves, why don’t we all take a step back and put aside our differences? The train will be here tomorrow, and we’ll all have what we want.”
Sol didn’t back down. “It’s going to be a long time until we get there. If people had only listened and ignored your foolishness about the bridge, the train would’ve been here by now. So many of us business owners have lost money thanks to you insisting upon having a bridge and then destroying it. The fact that you’re not in jail only proves that we have an incompetent sheriff and an incompetent mayor. Come next year, we’ll be setting that to rights. We’ll be voting in a new mayor, and the first thing I’ll be doing to protect the people of this town is bringing in a new sheriff, one who is willing to protect the town from people like you.”
Sol was challenging Charlie as mayor? And trying to get rid of Draven as sheriff? Had this whole town gone mad? He knew Sol was angry, but this seemed to be taking it too far.
Rosalind: A Thanksgiving Day Bride (Brides of Noelle Book 8) Page 18
