Chase The Wind

by Janelle Taylor

  Beth was intrigued by how calm he sounded and looked while relating an experience that must have been humiliating and riling. “They believed her? Didn’t they know what she was like?”

  “Best I could tell, nobody took her word against mine, but nobody would call her a liar. The old man just wanted me gone to prevent worse trouble with her, and maybe he didn’t want to accept the dirty truth about his own child. I was told she’d been a problem for a long time, so I guess he didn’t want to dig a wider canyon between them by taking my side. And how would the boys treat and view his girl if her own father doubted her? I suppose it’s hard to raise girls without a mother.”

  “She had a grandmother and older sister to help rear her right.” When that remark seemed to annoy him, Beth added, “Of course, family isn’t always to blame when a child sours. So, what happened afterward?”

  “I didn’t get far before I realized I couldn’t just ride away because I’d made friends there who needed my help. Besides, I’d given my word, and I never go back on that, unless I’m forced to for a good reason. Trust me, they were my friends, even if they couldn’t side with me. Don’t you see, they couldn’t go against the boss’s daughter for somebody who’d be gone soon? We all knew it was best for them to stay out of that fire. But the oldest girl, Gran, and Tom wouldn’t keep quiet; they argued in my defense.” Navarro smiled in recall. “The boy had become my shadow, like I was his older brother. The grandmother liked me, too, and the older girl knew I was needed there. We learned a lot from each other.”

  Navarro’s smile faded. “By the time I got back, the old man was dead and Fletcher’s threat was darker and bigger. The law still couldn’t prove anything against him, but we knew he’d had Jed murdered. I won’t go into the terrible things Fletcher did to the Lanes, not at the eating table. In all of my past cases, Beth, I’ve never come across more cruelty, violence, and coldness. The Lanes could have used a skilled Special Agent to help them.”

  “Because the local law couldn’t or wouldn’t?”

  “Couldn’t. Fletcher was too cunning and evil to make mistakes. After we finally defeated the bastard, my job was over, so I left in June.”

  Three months, her mind tallied, a long time for a loner and drifter to stay put; he must have developed deep affection and respect for the Lanes and others on the ranch. “Have you seen them since you left?”

  “The oldest girl married the foreman; he’s our target’s older brother. Matt Cordell is a fine man, Beth; I can’t think of anything making him go bad. It’s been five years since I saw him, but few men change that much.”

  “What happened to your troublemaker, Tom, and the other hands?”

  “After Jed was killed and before I returned to help, Mary Louise married Fletcher.” When Beth looked astonished by that information, Navarro said, “Yep, your ears are working fine.”

  “She turned against her own family and married the villain threatening them? How could she do such a terrible thing?”

  “Fletcher was rich, well known, handsome, as you women would say, and a bachelor. He started romancing her; I think his motive was to try to get the ranch through her after he did away with the others. She said she didn’t believe he was to blame, and maybe it was true. Who knows what others really think and feel?”

  “That’s very generous and kind, but I don’t believe it for a minute. A female who’s cunning and greedy enough to frame a smart man like you, or any man, in such a despicable manner isn’t stupid. Saddling up with the enemy is about as low as anybody can get. But I’m sorry I interrupted. Go on.”

  “After we arranged a trap and Fletcher met with justice, Mary Louise sold her widow’s inheritance to her older sister. She moved back East where she’d been wanting to live since attending school there. Matt told me she fell on hard times but finally straightened out. Married a doctor who helped Tom with his eye and foot problems. Tom’s married and doing fine, last I heard. The grandmother is quite a woman, real pioneer stock; you’ll like her.” He drank more tea, and she remained quiet and alert.

  “Not long after I left that second time, there was a fire; lightning caused it. Burned the Lane house, so the Cordells moved to Fletcher’s home. It was bigger and nicer and they owned it, so they didn’t rebuild the original house. The L/C Ranch is large and prosperous; money couldn’t be a motive. There isn’t a motive, ‘cause they wouldn’t turn evil, not those two.”

  “Does L/C stand for Lane/Cordell?” she asked to prompt more disclosures after he went silent and pensive, a clue he was withholding something.

  “Yep. They’re good people, Beth, including the hands who work for them. Most have been there for years. You’ll like all of ‘em, I promise.” He told her they had three children, spoke some about the hands, and related many things he’d done there. “After we arrive and you get a look-see, you tell me if they aren’t one of the happiest and best matched couples you’ll ever meet. I’d bet my life, Jessie and Matt aren’t involved in his brother’s gunrunning.”

  “Being a part of a family and ranch life didn’t make you want that for yourself?”

  “Never found the right time or woman to make it possible.”

  Beth was surprised by that admission, and he looked as if he were, too. Yet, she sensed gaps in his revelations and detected a change in him when he reached certain points in the story, and when he finally mentioned the oldest daughter—Cordell’s wife—by name. Had he, she mused, avoided saying it on purpose? Why, when he knew her well enough to call her “Jessie”? Was she a possible complication at the ranch? The real reason Dan was sending along a “wife” as his partner? She let Navarro finish his meal before she asked about Geronimo.

  He related facts given to him by Dan and their superior’s conclusions. He brushed over the Apaches’ history and their battles with the whites. “You can’t blame Geronimo and his people for hating San Carlos and captivity. No man leans to losing his freedom, being locked away, abused. There’d be no trouble, or less of it, if the Apaches had been left at Warm Springs as promised. That was a good location and they liked it enough to accept reservation life there. They were put in chains and carted or marched to the barren prison that was their new home.”

  Beth perceived his bitterness and resentment. Were those his people? Had he lived on a reservation? Had he hired out as a scout, as many conquered braves did? Had Dan rescued him from that dark existence? “That’s horrible, Navarro; no one should be forced to live that way.”

  “But they’re only Indians, savages, animals, people say.”

  “They’re humans, God’s creatures, too. It’s wrong and cruel.”

  “Most out here don’t see it that way.” But I’m gladyou do.

  “If they did, and they’d be wise to do so, peace could come.”

  “It isn’t peace whites want; they want the Indians defeated and removed. Geronimo claims the newspapers lie about him and provoke people against him. I know for myself some of those reports and charges aren’t true or are exaggerated. After Mexican raiders killed his family, he burned his dwelling, his family’s possessions, and his children’s playthings: that’s their custom—and revenge, too. He’s wreaked plenty of that on his worst enemies below the border.” He explained the fierce hatred and bloody conflicts between the Mexicans and Apaches. “Geronimo—Old Goyahkla, that’s his real name—surely loves his tiswin. It’s gotten him into barrels of trouble.” At her look of confusion, he clarified, “Corn beer, Apache-made.”

  Again, he ceased talking and drifted into deep thought. Beth waited a while before remarking, “If he’s involved with Charles Cordell and illegal arms, he’s in bigger trouble now.”

  “I know.”

  “And you’d hate to be the one to bring him in or have to kill him?”

  “Yep.”

  It was apparent he didn’t intend to elaborate so she changed the subject. “How did you meet Dan and go to work for him?”

  “Trickery,” he said with a grin and chuckle to mask his torn fee
lings about his mother’s people and his past with Jessie. “He said if I refused his offer, he’d make sure I couldn’t find another job in the territory and, when I was hungry and broke, I’d come back to him for work.”

  Beth’s eyes widened and her lips parted. “Daniel Withers blackmailed you? He coerced you into becoming an agent?”

  “Just joking,” he said.

  “A sense of humor, I like that quality in a…person. Please continue.”

  “I did a lot of troubleshooting jobs for people and the Army, some of them concerning Indians. Somehow I caught Dan’s attention, so he looked me up and convinced me to hire on with the government. The pay was better, my results more important and appreciated, and I was my own boss in most ways. I’ve handled all kinds of missions for him. The last one was investigating allegations against the railroads. I finished that case in January and my findings are in the hands of a Senate committee. Between then and now, I’ve been hunting down outlaws and renegades while waiting for a new assignment. I certainly didn’t expect it to be this one.”

  You’re well spoken and educated. How did an orphan get that way? Why no mention of a father? “You’ve been an agent for three years, right?”

  “And you’ve been one for seven. Any problem with who outranks who and should be the leader of our team?” She shook her head and smiled. “Good. So, what’s your story, Beth?”

  She watched him recline on his left side, prop his head with a hand, and focus his hazel gaze on her face. Trying to relax me or unsettle me? “I just completed that alleged fraud case which Dan mentioned to you. There was no evidence to substantiate the accusations made by several men from back East; either they were mistaken or were trying to ruin Harrison because they used bad judgment in land buys. They said he lied about the properties, then offered to repurchase them at a lower price when they arrived and found the parcels worthless. I saw copies of the correspondence, reports, and sales agreements; and I saw the parcels. I’m glad they were wrong, because Melvin Harrison is a fine man. Men who buy land without seeing it are asking for trouble, and they can’t expect the seller to cancel a deal and return their money because they aren’t satisfied. The files clearly prove he didn’t deceive them, and he had no obligation to negate the deals and take a loss on the business expenses he had incurred. As far as I could discover, the properties are worth what he charged. He’s offered to act as agent for their resales, but the men are balking against his fees. I don’t see how he could be any fairer to them.”

  Beth brushed aside an insect that landed on her dress. “One of my first assignments was investigating to see if President Garfield was killed by a lone assassin or if a conspiracy and other people were involved. That was in ‘81. It didn’t take long for our group of agents to discover he’d acted by himself. I’ve had all sorts of cases, but that was one of the most fascinating. Believe it or not, Navarro, the Agency needs women because there are some cases only a female can handle.”

  “Such as?”

  At least you don’t look as skeptical as you sound. “I helped destroy a white-slavery ring. Only a female could get inside something like that.”

  “What happened?”

  “The Agency received reports about young women—unattached, widowed, and married—disappearing from towns within a hundred-mile circle of New Orleans, then St. Louis, then Dallas. Lawmen, and even private detectives hired by some families, couldn’t find any of them. It was as if they’d vanished from the earth. But there was a suspicious pattern.”

  “What kind of pattern? Who made the connections?”

  “I did; that’s partly why I was assigned to the case.” He sat up. “I was in the territorial office when the events were being discussed. It turned out that one of the missing females was the daughter of an agent’s friend. He mentioned there had been similar crimes in the area. I asked if anything like that had occurred anywhere else and if the women had anything in common. Telegrams were sent to other offices to collect facts on all unsolved abductions. I was still there when the replies came back, so I suggested we pin disappearance sites on a map. When we did, it was as clear as water that somebody was working a specific area, then changed locations to do it again. They told me to take charge of the preliminary investigation. I went over the reports and requested more facts. I learned that all of the victims were young and very pretty, so there could be only one motive for stealing so many. We knew what was happening, but not how. We were stumped because no one had seen or heard anything, or wasn’t telling. All we could do was alert our agents to be on the lookout for similar reports, wait for the culprits to reveal their current target area, then move in and try to capture them redhanded.” Beth realized he was paying close attention. “We got our first break when one of the victims escaped a brothel and confirmed the sinister motive behind the crimes. She’d been beaten and drugged numerous times, and subjected to unmentionable evils for money. She died before supplying the names and facts needed for arrests and convictions, but she’d given us a place to start: the Red Palace in Sante Fe. That’s where I worked before I came to Tucson. To conceal his crimes, the ringleader hired women to perform, serve drinks, and entertain men in his business front: a very expensive and respectable house of diversions for men. When a customer wanted…other things, he was taken to a fancy brothel outside of town where he could have his choice of women and the pleasures they offered. For the right price, he could do anything he wanted to her. If one woman died from abuse, she was buried secretly and another was stolen to replace her. I hired on at the Red Palace and obtained the evidence against him. He was so cocky and confident, he kept a record of his properties and their fates and how much each earned for him. He got rich off women’s torments. If I’d had my way, every customer would’ve been charged and punished, too! They had to know those women were there against their will.”

  “You could have vanished, too; that was dangerous and risky.”

  “Dan had me watched closely. If I failed to report in every two days, he was to mount a rescue. It never came to that.”

  “In two days a lot could have happened to you, Beth.”

  “I know, but I had to stop those villains from harming more innocent women. Can’t you imagine the sufferings of families and friends who didn’t know what had happened to their loved ones? We rescued most of them and returned them to their homes.”

  “Why do you look so angry? You succeeded.”

  “Not all of them were welcomed back after what they’d been forced to do. Some were considered dirty, worthless, at fault. Even husbands turned their backs on women who had been good wives and mothers. If you ask me, those snakes didn’t deserve good women in the first place.”

  “I agree. Victims shouldn’t be held to blame for criminals’ actions; they were powerless to help themselves.”

  She caught an odd hint of bitterness in him. “That’s why I want you to teach me how to defend myself when I don’t have a weapon handy; I don’t ever want to be helpless in any situation. As soon as we’re on the trail, you can begin my lessons, if you haven’t changed your mind.”

  He shook his head and she sighed in relief. “We’ll have to get you a horse before the livery closes today,” he said.

  “That isn’t necessary; I have Sunshine, a golden palomino with a blond tail and mane. I’ve had her for years, so we know each other well. She’s wonderful and well trained. Dan’s keeping her. He’s going to pretend to give her to us Sunday as a wedding gift. Let’s go over the remainder of our schedule for today and tomorrow. Time’s short.”

  After they’d gone over everything, Navarro said casually, “You didn’t tell me much about yourself, partner. Will you?”

  She nodded. “You want my professional or personal story?”

  “Both; everything,” he replied with a chuckle, unaware he was in for a startling surprise, one of three which Dan had concealed from him.

  Chapter Five

  Beth wanted Navarro to know her well enough to like her and trus
t her. Then, maybe he would open up more. “I was born in Atlanta twenty-eight years ago,” she began. “When the war with the North approached, Papa didn’t want to take sides. He thought we’d be happier and safer in the West, so he moved us to Denver where his two brothers and their families live and work in the mining business. Before he became an agent, my father was a lawyer, the best. Everybody liked and trusted him. I wish you could have met him, Navarro; he was a special and unique man; they don’t come any better than John Wesley Trask.”

  Her eyes glowed with love and respect, then dulled with sadness, feelings he’d never experienced where his own father was concerned. He saw her shake off painful memories; he did the same.

  “Mama took ill one winter with a chest ailment and died when I was sixteen. So we both know what it’s like to lose a mother,” she added to stress the common bond. “Papa took her death hard; no two people could be closer or love each other more than they did. They set a good example for us as to what a marriage should be. Everything in our home had Mama’s touch; it was as if her spirit lingered in every room. He didn’t want to stay where they’d been so happy; that’s where I got the idea for that part of my cover story. He seemed lost without Mama. Of course he loved us and was a good father, but a vital part of him was gone forever. After I lost Steven, I understood what Papa had endured.

  “Losing someone you love and who was a big part of your daily life changes you. When Papa was offered an agent’s job, he took it with our blessing. The challenging missions rekindled his old spark as much as possible, but staying on the move prevented him from meeting another woman and remarrying. He had a loving family, exciting work, and good friends, so he was happy and fulfilled to a point, but he never allowed himself to get over Mama. No one could replace her, but I sometimes wished that wasn’t the case when I saw how his grief ate at him. Papa had so much love and joy to give. Before he lost her, he had an infectious zest for life that made everyone near him feel wonderful. People sensed they could trust him and depend on him, and he did his best to prove them right.”