Grant slid the ledger into the bookshelf and faced Mackey. “Good to see you, Aaron. I understand you had a productive trip. Mr. Van Dorn and I are most anxious to hear about it.”
But Mackey wasn’t anxious to tell them. “Then I’m sorry to disappoint you. Mr. Rice asked Billy and me to handle a personal matter for him, which we did. I imagine he’ll tell you about it personally if he’s of a mind to.”
Van Dorn cleared his throat, making a weak sound as he did so. “Your loyalty to my partner is unquestionable, sheriff, even admirable. But as it could take some weeks, perhaps as long as a month, for word to reach us from Mr. Rice’s offices in New York, and given the fact that your success or failure directly affects his company’s investments here in Dover Station, don’t you agree that it would be more efficient if you simply told us what transpired?”
“We’ve read the news accounts of what happened,” Grant added, “so we know you killed those murdering bastards who were robbing our trains. Good for you. But we would like to know how it happened directly from you. As you know, I was also a lawman once, so I appreciate how delicate these matters can sometimes be. I assure you nothing you tell us will leave this room. We’re particularly curious as to why you were gone for so long.”
“Because I met with Mr. Rice personally down in Butte.” Mackey reached into his pocket and handed an envelope across the desk to Mr. Van Dorn. “He wanted me to give this to you personally, Mr. Van Dorn.”
James Grant took hold of it, but Mackey did not let it go. “He said I was to hand this directly to Mr. Van Dorn and only to Mr. Van Dorn. Not you.”
Grant withdrew and Van Dorn took the envelope with great effort. “What does it say?”
“I’m not accustomed to reading other people’s mail. He told me to give it to you personally, and that’s what I’ve done.”
“Consider your mission a success,” Van Dorn said. He then handed the envelope to Grant, who slipped it into the pocket of his jacket. “We’ll read it later after you’ve given us an account of your exploits.”
Mackey already knew what the answer would be, but he had to ask anyway. “I’d appreciate it if we could speak privately.”
“We are speaking privately,” Van Dorn said. “Mr. Grant here is my right hand in all things regarding Dover Station and this company. Anything you say to me, you can say to him.”
“He’s also running for mayor,” Mackey said. “And what I have to say is best kept off the campaign trail.”
But Van Dorn laughed it off. “He’s running unopposed, sheriff. There won’t be much electioneering to be done before the ballots are cast. And after he is elected, the office of mayor is a part-time position, so he will continue to work for me. Why, in his capacity as mayor, he will also be your superior, won’t he?”
“For a time,” Grant said, then quickly added, “We’re still trying to determine the law enforcement jurisdictions in town.”
“Sounds to me like you’ve already got that worked out,” Mackey said. “Got Walter Underhill running as chief of police.”
“So you’ve seen the signs?” Grant said. “I didn’t know if you’ve noticed them since your return.”
“Can’t spit in town without hitting one,” Mackey said. “You made a good choice. Walt’s a good man.”
“I’m so happy you approve.” Van Dorn folded his thin fingers on his desk. “Now, as much as we have enjoyed discussing the state of local politics with you, sheriff, I’ll politely ask one more time for an accounting of your activities while you were gone. After all, Mr. Underhill had to serve as the sheriff in your absence, taking him away from duties he might otherwise have been performing for the company. I think that entitles us to an answer to our reasonable question.”
Mackey had tried to do this the right way. He had tried to get Van Dorn to speak to him in private. He had lived up to the spirit and the letter of Mr. Rice’s request, so all that was left was the truth. Mackey saw no reason to be polite any longer.
He was glad the handle of the Peacemaker was within easy reach across his belly. Grant might not like what he had to say.
“Before I left,” Mackey began. “I found out that your stationmaster in Chidester had intentionally misspelled words in telegrams he sent for each train that had been robbed. Each train had something worth stealing, so I knew it wasn’t just a coincidence.”
“Mr. Agee?” Van Dorn said. “Are you sure? I understand he’s been with the railroad for quite some time.”
Mackey looked at Grant as he replied. “He was paid fifty dollars a month in gold by a big ugly man with a scar to tip off which trains had loot. Sometimes the trains got robbed, sometimes they didn’t. Agee went along with it because the gold was delivered on the first of every month, and the big guy threatened to kill his family if he didn’t do it. I had him send out a similar message tipping off the robbers that our train was ripe for a robbery, and the robbers took the bait.”
“What happened to them?” Grant said a little too quickly. “I mean, the news accounts said some of the men were killed, but they were rather vague.”
“That’s because I was vague with the reporters,” Mackey said. “I killed four of the six robbers, but kept two alive. That’s how I was able to track down the ringleader and the man who was paying them.”
“The big man,” Van Dorn said. “The one with the scar?”
“His name is Aderson, or at least it was until Billy Sunday shot him dead. But no, he wasn’t the ringleader. A guy by the name of Tommy Macum was. The real question is who was paying him to rob your trains.”
Grant lifted his chin and almost kept the tremor out of his voice. “Well, sheriff? Did you find out who it was? The man atop the pyramid?”
“Whoever it was,” Mackey began, “knew Tommy Macum, had enough access to gold to make sure everyone was paid their fifty dollars in gold on a regular basis, and had a vested interest in seeing the town’s prospects weakened for their own benefit. A gambit that cost three good people their lives.”
Grant returned Mackey’s glare. “You have a problem answering direct questions, Aaron. Do you know who is behind all of this or don’t you?”
“I’ve gotten sworn statements from the two surviving robbers and from Agee, and I have enough common sense to see where everything points. And it points to you, Grant.”
Grant smirked. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Come now, sheriff,” Van Dorn gasped. “I enjoy a joke as much as the next man, but this is hardly the time for humor. All of your evidence is purely circumstantial.”
“Maybe for a judge,” Mackey said, “but not for Mr. Rice. That letter you handed to Grant? That’s his termination letter signed and sealed by the man himself.”
“Preposterous,” Van Dorn said. “James, let me see that letter.”
Grant’s hand trembled as he reached inside his jacket. Mackey watched the hand, hoping he would come out with something more than just the envelope. Something that would give Mackey all the reason he needed to kill this man, but all he held was the envelope, which he handed to Van Dorn.
The banker opened the letter and quickly read it, before refolding it and placing it back inside the envelope. “This is absurd. He’s obviously been influenced by the sheriff’s clear bias against you. Don’t give it a second thought, James. All of this is built on the rumor and innuendo of train robbers and a hayseed lawman. I’ll handle the matter directly with Mr. Rice. You’re to continue with your duties as if nothing happened.”
“Yes, sir.” Grant glared at Mackey. “It will be an honor.”
“Excellent.” Van Dorn struggled to get to his feet and Grant rushed to help him. For a man of forty, Van Dorn moved like he was eighty. “Now, I am afraid you must excuse me, sheriff, as it is time for me to take a rest. Your weather here in this wilderness seems to be too pure for my diseased city lungs. I’ll leave it to James here to show you out.”
Mackey remained seated as Van Dorn began coughing. Grant guided him toward the door
way, where the butler took Van Dorn by the arm and guided him upstairs.
Grant quietly closed the door and looked at Mackey. “I apologize for Mr. Van Dorn’s early departure. He is a city man, born and raised, and of a different disposition than you and me.”
“Meaning he’s not a killer?”
A smirk from Grant. “Meaning he prefers remaining indoors with his books and his poems and his ledgers rather than associate with men of our sort, much less our harsh climate.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Mackey said. “He seems to enjoy your company just fine.”
“I’m an employee, not an associate, Aaron. He pays me to handle the things he either can’t do on his own or doesn’t want to do. I follow his orders, at least for now. That’s part of the reason why I wanted to talk to you today.”
That surprised Mackey. “Even after I just handed your boss instructions to fire you?”
Grant winced. “That was certainly an awkward moment. For you, I mean. I’m sure that didn’t go quite as you had imagined it would, did it, Aaron?”
“I didn’t expect it to go one way or the other, to tell the truth. Though I’ll admit I’m sorry that the only thing you pulled out of that pocket just then was an envelope.”
“No fear about that.” Grant opened his jacket wide. “I’m unarmed. The truly powerful in this world have more effective weapons at their disposal than guns.”
“Says the man who’s never been shot at.”
“Oh, I’ve been shot at before,” Grant said as he took a seat behind Van Dorn’s desk. He looked right at home. “In fact, I’ve been stabbed, kicked, thrown, and just about anything else you could think of. Even got set on fire once by a whore down in Laramie. But that’s a story for another day. Those things are in the past. You and I are more interested in discussing the future, aren’t we? Or at least we should be.”
“Depends on your idea of the future. You’ve got dreams of running this town from that brand-new Municipal Building you’ve been working on for yourself and from this . . .” He looked around the shadowy office. “This rabbit warren or whatever the hell it is. Your vision of the future involves you having this town coming and going. My vision of the future is the sight of you in prison for the three people you got killed when you ordered Macum and his men to rob those trains.”
“That’s a rather bleak vision of the future from my point of view,” Grant admitted. “I see things differently, a time where all of us enjoy our lives in peace and comfort.”
“Whatever crystal ball you’re looking through has a hell of a big crack running through it.”
“No crystal balls or tea leaves or Chinese fortunetellers for me, thank you. Why, a blind man could see what’s happening here. Why can’t you? It astounds me that you don’t appreciate all I’ve done for you lately. Or at least tried to do for you, anyway.”
“Then how about you spell it out for me? After all, ‘hayseed lawmen’ like me are a bit dense about such matters.”
“For starters, I’ve been damned good to your family,” Grant said. “I’ve made your father a wealthy man and intend on making him wealthier still if he’ll let me. And I think he will. I’ve further added to your legend by calling you the Savior of Dover Station. A happy accident, I’ll admit, but one that has worked especially well for you.” He wagged a finger at the sheriff. “People will be writing books and songs about you one day, and I won’t get to see a penny of it.”
“Seeing as how you’ll be long dead by then, you sure as hell won’t.”
Grant frowned as if in contemplation. “I also tried to help that widow you’re sweet on. Mrs. Campbell. Katherine Campbell has such a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? All things lacy and fine. I stopped by to see her several times, as a matter of fact.” He raised his face to the ceiling and closed his eyes in memory. “My, she’s a handsome woman, Aaron. Refined. Cultured. Nothing at all like the rough-hewn variety we grow out here. Not common like you and me.”
“You’ll get no argument from me,” Mackey said. “Still can’t figure out how she knows which piece of silver to use with each course at dinner. Pretty good judge of character, too. Guess that’s why she turned you down flat when you tried to swindle her place out from under her.”
“Swindle?” Grant said. “Why, I offered to buy her out at a fair price of her own naming, but she refused to even entertain the notion. She said she had to talk to you first, but you were out of town again on your crusade for Mr. Rice.”
“You didn’t like that, did you? Guess you’re not used to women saying no to you.”
“No, I’m simply not used to people being so blind to their own interests.” He leaned forward and folded his hands on top of the desk. “You see, I was trying to buy her out to help you.”
“And just how would that have helped me?”
“By freeing you up to leave. To take the money I was going to give her and move away from here. Start up a new life somewhere else far away from here.”
Mackey was beginning to grow interested. “And just what makes you think I’d ever want to leave my hometown?”
“Because I know you hate me, and if you don’t hate me, you certainly think I was involved in those robberies, even though you’ll never be able to prove it. Not with Tommy Macum and his wife dead and gone. A man of your high principles would never support me, and I know you’d never work with me. That’s why I’m making the decision for you by not giving you any choice in the matter. You see, Aaron, your time here is over. As soon as I’m elected mayor—and, despite your feeble attempt with Van Dorn just now, I will be mayor—I won’t have any use for you or your colored deputy.”
Mackey furrowed his brow. “Billy’s black? Shit, Jimmy. He never mentioned it to me. Damn, you know a man for ten years, you think he’d mention something like that. Just when you think you know all there is to know about someone.”
Grant laughed. “Your attempt at humor is lost on me, Aaron. You’re done in Dover Station. You’re just too stupid to know it.”
“Flattery is the last resort of the desperate,” Mackey observed.
“While stating the truth is a virtue of the wise,” Grant said. “After my election, I’ll dissolve the sheriff’s office, and we’ll have a brand-new police force to keep law and order around here.”
“Staffed by the gunmen you’ve been slowly bringing into town for the past month or so,” Mackey added. “Too bad Van Dorn never leaves this house. He could see it for himself.”
“He sees what he wants to see,” Grant said. “And what neither of us want to see is you around here anymore. You’ve outlived your usefulness. You’re part of Dover Station’s rich and colorful past. I’m part of its future, and there’s no room for you in it.”
“That so?”
“It certainly is,” Grant went on. “I hear statehood’s right around the corner, and this town’s in a prime position to be one of the most important cities in the state. Hell, I even plan on changing the name to Dover City once I get people used to the idea.”
“Why not Grant City?”
James Grant slowly shook his head. “The more you speak, the more I’m convinced it’s time you go off and do something else. I tried my damnedest to give you every reason in the world to leave, but that woman of yours sure is stubborn. Kind of like that horse of yours. What breed is it again? I can’t hardly remember.”
“Thought an old cowboy like you would be able to retain such knowledge, Jimmy. She’s an Arabian.”
Grant snapped his fingers. “As dark as she is spirited. Just like that deputy of yours. And your woman.”
“Anything you’ve got to say about Deputy Sunday you can say directly to Deputy Sunday. I wish you would. Don’t think you’d like the way it turned out.”
“I mean him no ill will. He’s a brave man, despite his condition, and I’m sure he’ll find his place in this world when he leaves town with you.”
“Maybe he’ll stay. Run for mayor.”
“No, he’ll leave w
hen you leave,” Grant observed. “I’m sure of it. You have a way of inspiring loyalty in people, Aaron, something I’ve never been able to do. Not in the way you do it, anyway. I have to charm and cajole people into liking me and, when that fails—as it ultimately does—I have to force their hand. Blackmail usually works best, but it won’t work with you. Your life is an open book, so there’s nothing I can use to persuade you to leave.”
He opened the desk drawer.
Mackey pulled the Peacemaker and aimed it at Grant. “Don’t do anything stupid, Jimmy.”
The company man raised his left hand and slowly lifted an envelope with his right. “I merely wanted to demonstrate that you weren’t the only one who had correspondence today, Aaron.” He elbowed the drawer shut. “I’d like to lower my hands now.”
Mackey tucked the pistol back into the holster and took the envelope Grant offered him. He opened it up and had to read the paper twice before the words made sense to him.
“That’s right, sheriff,” Grant said. “I was able to get a territorial judge to grant you a decree of divorce on the grounds of abandonment. As you’re the only claiming party and there’s no official contest to the contrary, all you need to do is sign that and you’ll be free of your ex-wife, Mary. No need to thank me, though. Think of it as thanks to a hero on behalf of a grateful township.”
Mackey held the decree in his hand, not quite sure he understood it. Not the document itself, but the reason why Grant had gone through all of the trouble to get it signed. “You really want me gone, don’t you?”
Grant spoke without the slightest hesitation. “As soon as possible. And now, all you have to do is sign that document and show it to any judge who’ll marry you. I’ll even be glad to do the honors myself once I’m elected if it’ll get you out of town any faster. Of course, it all hinges on you being able to get Mrs. Campbell over her anxiety, but I’m sure you can manage.”
Mackey felt an unsettling stillness come over him. “How’d you find out about that?”
“Come now, Aaron,” Grant laughed. “I know Dover’s a booming town, but it’s still a small town. People talk. They see things. They know she’s been addlebrained since Darabont savaged her, and who could blame her? More the credit to you, I say, for being willing to take on a woman with such a mark against her name. Why, bad enough to allow herself to be taken alive by a man like Darabont, but to have been taken by him while working in a house of ill repute? Not too many men would put up with a woman who has so many difficulties, such as they are.”
Dark Territory Page 21
