When he finally did touch something that hadn’t grown there naturally, Clint only felt slightly better.
He pulled his hand from the dirt and examined the one thing he had to show for all his efforts. It was half of a matchstick. Clint took that little sliver of wood back to Rachel and showed it to her after climbing onto Eclipse’s back.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“This,” Clint replied solemnly, “is why Coltraine’s called Shadow Walker. Tracking him is going to be a lot harder than I thought.”
THIRTY-ONE
They rode back to Fort Marsden as if they were in a race. Clint and Rachel bolted through the gates, jumped from their saddles and marched straight toward Sergeant Bray’s small quarters. Before they got to the door, however, Clint stopped and wheeled around to face Rachel.
“Let me go in alone,” he said.
“If this is about a man being able to get farther than a woman, I swear I’ll smack you, Clint.”
“That’s exactly what this is about, but not from me. Did that sergeant strike you as willing to listen to reason where you were concerned?”
All Rachel had to do was start to think about the way Bray had stared at her without even caring whether or not she caught him doing it and she got Clint’s point. She also got a creepy chill running along her back.
“I’m not going to just stand here and wait, though,” she said.
“I hope not. See what you can find from the businessmen around here. They’re the ones who seem to know more about Coltraine’s comings and goings than anyone else.” Clint’s next impulse was to make sure she would be ready if she stumbled upon someone who didn’t want to be found. Seeing her in front of him with her gun at her side and that fire in her eyes, Clint had to wonder if any of those kidnappers would be prepared if they stumbled upon her.
“I’ll check around,” she said. “Let’s just hope that the sergeant is still somewhere you can find him.”
“He didn’t strike me as the sort who would go anywhere.”
Rachel had started to walk away when she felt Clint grab her wrist. She turned around, and saw his eyes drift down to her waist.
“You might want to cover up that gun,” he said. “Folks might be a little friendlier to you that way.”
Pulling out the tails of her shirt, she draped them over her holster. It wouldn’t hold up to close inspection, but it was enough to keep the firearm out of sight. Once that was done, Rachel hurried off toward the saloon.
Clint stood there and watched her until he could swear he was being observed. Actually, he waited until the guards who were supposed to be watching everyone started paying attention to him instead of whatever had occupied their minds before. When the uniformed men started looking his way, Clint ignored them and headed into Sergeant Bray’s office.
The sergeant was sitting in the same spot he’d been the night before. His uniform was a little more rumpled and the odor coming from the fat disgrace wearing those colors was a little more pungent.
“Hello again, Sergeant,” Clint said. “I see you haven’t freshened up since the last time we met. That’s just plain sad since I slept outside and you’ve got a whole fort.”
“Who the hell are you?” the sergeant asked groggily.
Clint bypassed any more formalities by stepping around Bray’s desk and grabbing the sergeant by his already rumpled collar. “I’m the one who needs to know some more information about Coltraine.”
For a few seconds, Bray kept staring at Clint as if he were still trying to place his face. Suddenly, his eyes lit up a bit and he asked, “Didn’t you catch up to him yet?”
“Not yet. Where should I look?”
“You can start by looking behind you.”
Clint turned to do just that. Instead of Coltraine, he found one of the younger men in uniform standing in the back of the room holding a rifle at the ready. The rifle’s barrel was pointed directly at Clint’s chest.
Settling Bray down, Clint straightened up and tried to get himself in a better position. He was surprised to make it so that his back was mostly to a wall and both of the other men were in his line of sight.
Sergeant Bray got up and tugged at his jacket as if that little bit of effort would make one bit of difference. “What you and the rest of your pimp friends don’t realize is that I am an officer in the United States Army. As such, I am not to be treated like the civilians at this fort.”
Standing up as though he were posing for a picture, Bray announced, “I could have you shot for what you’ve done just now.”
“Sure you could,” Clint said with a nod. “And I could have you court-martialed for what you’ve been allowing to happen at this fort. I understand the army doesn’t exactly need this place anymore, but I doubt the men higher up on the chain of command know the full extent of your business ventures.”
Bray’s mouth tightened into a straight line. “You won’t be able to report a damn thing if you don’t make it out of this office.”
Clint stood up tall and let his hand hover over his holstered Colt. “Easier said than done, Sergeant.”
The next couple of seconds dragged on like hours. Clint kept his eye mainly on the soldier with the rifle, but he also wasn’t about to take his sights off of Bray for too long.
The soldier was a young recruit who looked like he’d barely made it through basic training. He held onto his rifle as if he were praying to the Lord above that the weapon wouldn’t have to be used as anything more than a threat.
Bray, himself, did a fairly good job of maintaining his composure. At least, he maintained it right until he let out his next breath.
“I don’t know a damn thing more about Coltraine, all right?” Bray sputtered.
“Where did he go from here?”
“Probably Norwalk. That’s where he always heads when he’s making his rounds.”
Clint thought for a few moments and then remembered visiting Norwalk once or twice the last time he’d been in this part of the country. It was a dusty little town without much more than a few saloons and a good spot along the river in its favor. “When’s he due back?” he asked.
“Not for another couple of days, and that’s just to pick up the man he left behind. Our business is done and he won’t want to talk to me until next time. Otherwise, he’ll only get suspicious.”
“What man did he leave behind?”
THIRTY-TWO
Clint walked out of the little building to find Rachel standing not too far away with her arms crossed. The moment she saw him, she walked forward wearing a look on her face that made it obvious just how anxious she was to ask her next question.
“What did he say?”
“He said we’ve got half an hour to get out of this fort before he puts us in the stockade,” Clint replied. “But that should be more than enough time for us to pay a visit to the man who’s staying at the cathouse.”
“What man?”
Clint smirked and started walking toward the block-shaped building. “The man Coltraine left behind to scout for prospects. He’ll pick out a woman or two who will accompany him and Coltraine north when he gets back from Norwalk.”
“You know all this for certain?” she asked.
“If we manage to catch up to Coltraine and things go our way, the sergeant will be out some money, but he won’t be forced to hand over the girls working here every now and then. From what I’ve gathered, these soldiers are just too lazy to do anything but pay whatever Coltraine demands.
“If Coltraine comes out ahead in this,” Clint continued, “then things are back where they were and the sergeant can just take credit for delivering us to Coltraine’s men. Either way, he doesn’t stand to lose much. Besides, the man’s too lazy to fight Coltraine and he’s too lazy to stand up to us.”
“You were busy in there,” she said.
“I think Coltraine’s been crossing the line by treating this fort like it was his own. Apparently, the sergeant doesn’t like playing host to tho
se Indians and he sure as hell doesn’t appreciate hosting one of Coltraine’s men just so he can have his pick of the litter in that cathouse.”
“Coltraine doesn’t just do that here,” Rachel said grimly. “He always makes sure he gets someone he wants in these deals. He sure took his time in selecting my sister.”
“Well, the only thing this fellow will be doing is getting us close to Coltraine.”
Suddenly, Rachel looked over to Clint and said, “Coltraine never got a look at me.”
“That’s . . . good.”
“What I mean is that he wouldn’t recognize me,” she added quickly. “Neither would his men. I’m sure the women at this cathouse would have no problem letting me in as one of their own so I could get in good with the asshole who’s over there now.”
Shaking his head, Clint said, “Absolutely not! That’s too big of a risk. Coltraine is going to be hard enough to find and there’s already too many innocent lives at stake. I don’t want to gamble yours as well.”
“It won’t be a gamble. It’ll be a safer bet, if anything else. I’ll make sure I get picked and I can make it easier for you to follow us straight to him and the rest of them. As it is, we might not be able to find Coltraine anyhow. You said it yourself that he didn’t even leave a useful track at that camp.”
“No,” Clint said firmly. “You’re not going to convince me this is a good idea.”
“It may just be the only idea that can work. There’s not much time left and God only knows what Coltraine is doing right now!”
“And you won’t be able to help anyone if you’re dead,” Clint said. “Which is what you’ll be the moment Coltraine or anyone else suspects you’re trying to pull something over on them.”
Letting out a sigh, Rachel said, “All right.”
“Good,” Clint said as he stepped closer to her. Even though there weren’t a lot of people around at the moment, he lowered his voice so only she could hear him. “We can do this, but we just need to be smart about it.”
“I know.”
Clint wasn’t entirely convinced that she could be dissuaded so easily, but he saw that she was at least willing to listen to him. “Did you find anything interesting while I was being threatened by the army?”
“Remember that Indian we left tied up in the livery?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s still in there.”
“Jesus,” Clint groaned. “These soldiers are even lazier than I thought.”
“I’m not even sure they found him yet,” Rachel said. “He looked like he was asleep, but he might almost be through his ropes. I’ll need your help to get him tied up again before he gets loose.”
“As much as I’d like to see how the sergeant deals with that Indian when he gets free,” Clint said as he turned toward the small, nearly empty building that had once been a second livery, “that would only give him something else to leverage against us.”
Clint stopped inside the doorway of the abandoned livery and fixed his eyes upon the large shape lying on the floor. He couldn’t tell if the Indian was unconscious and before he could ask, he felt a sharp blow to the back of his head.
Holding her gun by the barrel, Rachel stood behind Clint and waited to see if she would have to hit him again. Although he wavered and started to turn around, Clint dropped to his knees and fell into a pile of hay on the floor. His hand was already wrapped around his modified Colt.
Rachel flipped the gun around so she was holding it properly and walked over to where the big Indian was lying. He truly had been about to break out of his ropes when she’d found him, but hadn’t been able to free himself before she’d arrived.
“Who’s coming to help you?” she asked.
The Indian stared defiantly at the opposite wall. “I need nobody’s help.”
“So nobody knows you’re here?”
He shrugged as best he could considering how he was tied.
Rachel holstered her gun and carefully drew the knife from its scabbard on her boot. As she lowered herself to one knee, she could see nearly every muscle in the Indian’s body tense. That, alone, was enough for her to see that he’d loosened the ropes a bit more than she’d guessed.
“If I let you go, I want you to tell me a good way to get close to Coltraine,” she said.
The Indian gazed up at her with large, dark eyes. After contemplating for a moment, he nodded. “I can give you some help in return for my freedom.”
“I thought you might prefer a fair trade to threats.”
“You are a smart woman,” the Indian said with a grin.
Rachel moved slowly toward the Indian. The closer she got, the more relaxed he became until he turned and rolled onto his side to give her a better view of the ropes tying his arms and legs.
Once she was close enough, Rachel buried the knife into the Indian’s back.
The big man flailed and started to kick, but was unable to dislodge the knife or Rachel from his back. In fact, his movements only drove the knife in deeper as it was pulled at an awkward angle through his flesh.
Feeling her grip starting to falter, Rachel knew she wouldn’t have been able to get this far if the Indian hadn’t shown her his back. As she hung on and tried to do as much damage as she could, she thought back to what Clint had said about keeping quiet before more trouble landed on their shoulders.
Even though that made perfect sense, she still doubted her choice of the knife over the gun when it came to putting the Indian in his grave. But even if the Indian managed to take her with him, she would never regret her decision to kill him.
The world was better off without one more animal like him in it.
Before too much longer, the Indian’s struggles eased up. His arms stopped straining against the ropes even as one of them snapped under the pressure. Finally, his legs slackened and his body slumped until he was totally limp.
Rachel was breathing heavily and couldn’t move her leg. Before she panicked, she realized the Indian was merely lying on her left foot. It came free with a bit of tugging, allowing her to scramble to one side. She grabbed the knife but had to fight to pull it from the Indian’s back. Her instincts told her to stab him again just to be sure he was dead, but she couldn’t muster up the strength to follow through.
When she got to her feet, she felt like she was going to be sick. Rachel managed to fight back the urge to vomit as she turned her back to the corpse and headed for the door. As much as she wanted to apologize to Clint, Rachel knew she’d have a chance to do that later. At least, she prayed Clint would be able to track her down so she could see him again. If not, all of this would be for nothing.
THIRTY-THREE
Rachel walked into the building that had once been the fort’s bunkhouse. Even though it had been decorated a bit to hide its military roots, the army influence was still there, making the place seem like a shoddy attempt to dress a pig.
The moment she stepped inside, she saw several sets of eyes turn in her direction. Most of those were women who lounged about, waiting to pounce on any man who glanced their way. But there was also a man leaning against a wall, bracing himself with one arm in a way that kept a small blonde from escaping him. That man looked over at Rachel without trying to hide the lust in his eyes.
Rachel put a friendly smile on her face and walked into the next room.
“Excuse me,” a short woman with brown hair said. “Can I help you with something?”
Rachel kept moving until she knew she was out of the man’s sight. Before the other woman could say anything else, Rachel looked at her and nodded. “Yes. Actually, I think I might be able to help you with something.”
The other woman allowed her long brown hair to flow over her shoulders. There was a natural curliness to her hair that made it seem more like liquid. Her skin was pale and her nose was slightly bulbous, but she was far from unattractive. She looked at Rachel with suspicion at first, but then shook her head. “If you’re looking for work, you should look somewhere else,”
she said.
“I don’t intend on taking a job.”
“Then what do you want?”
Before she continued talking, Rachel reached behind her to close the door.
The other woman took notice of that immediately. She also noticed the gun on Rachel’s hip. “There’s hardly any money here,” she said. “All of it’s collected every morning by—”
“I’m not here for money. What’s your name?”
“Jennifer.”
“Mine’s Rachel. I’m here about the man who’s waiting here for Coltraine.”
“I . . . don’t . . . I really shouldn’t talk about him.”
“I’m trying to get close to those bastards and give them what they’ve got coming before any more women are kidnapped and sold off like property.”
“What do you know about that?”
“My sister was taken,” Rachel explained. “She was picked out and handed over just like so many others. Just like one of your girls is going to be when Coltraine comes back.”
Jennifer slowly shook her head. “Sometimes they take one of my girls with them, but they’re just going to work somewhere else. Sometimes, it’s either that or lose your job altogether. That’s why they usually pick the ones who don’t have any ties around here.”
“This is a whorehouse in an old army fort,” Rachel said harshly. “Even the damn army doesn’t have ties here anymore.” She pulled in a calming breath and looked Jennifer in the eyes. “Look, whatever you were told about this, it’s a lie. It’s one of the lies that these men always tell so they can get these women to go along as quietly as they can. You can’t believe this line of bull.”
Jennifer had remained steady at first, but slowly lowered her eyes. “I never knew Coltraine went to more places than this and a house in Norwalk.”
“He’s got a whole circuit worked out where he’s got men who’ll hand over women in return for money. That’s all it is to these bastards.”
“I used to work at a place in California,” Jennifer said. “Where we used to get a say in who we took upstairs and even what we charged. Other places are rougher, but this . . . this is a place I’ve been trying to leave for a while.”
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