Valley of Bones

by Dusty Richards

  “Take Liz along?”

  “If you don’t get her killed.”

  “I’ll get Virgil to drive her over after we have Kilton in chains.”

  “Handle it. If we have all this solved, I will send you a telegram and you two can bring Liz and the prisoner to Tucson. ”

  “We can handle that,” Spencer said. “What are your plans?”

  “Chet, let them take those passed-out girls to a doctor in Tombstone. They are going there to get Virgil. We will have a wagon full including the wounded ones,” Jesus said. “Fred can bring the girls to Tucson when they are well enough to give their testimony.”

  “Better plan. It’s getting late. We have the live ones and the dead in this wagon. You have the women in yours. Fred, please get our two horses from out back and let’s roll,” Chet said after the wagon switching was finished.

  “I’ll get them. Be careful.”

  “We will.”

  The night dragged on during the lengthy journey. Finally they were at the top of the grade heading down through the thick saguaros that populated the last long slope to Tucson. The moaning wounded hurt his ears. The cussing of Jason Fulbright and Thrasher had been shut off with threats to bust them with a rifle butt if they didn’t close their mouths. Benfield had kept quiet.

  Someone had wired the sheriff, Ben Reyes, in Tucson. He was there, along with bondsmen and lawyers, who had heard about the wire, and were trying to crowd past the deputies holding them back.

  Ben told them all to get back. The prisoners had to be booked and then they would see about bond and any releases. A big man in an expensive suit stepped past them and told Sheriff Reyes that both Thrasher and Benfield were honest citizens and had no business being treated as common criminals and herded into the jail with felons.

  “Larry Christian, your clients are going to be processed right along with the others as prisoners and charged by Marshal Byrnes as real felons are done.”

  “I’m sorry, but if you want to wear that badge much longer you better get them out of that jail right now.”

  “That a threat? You want a cell beside them?”

  “You would not dare.”

  Ben tapped him on the chest. “I certainly will do that, so don’t say one more word.”

  “You have not—”

  “Deputy?”

  “I’m leaving—”

  Chet leaned over and tried not to smile. “He have a hearing problem?”

  Ben’s face in the early morning light showed his anger. He nodded sharply.

  They had the last wounded one on a stretcher and took him inside.

  “It is all over, folks. Disperse now.”

  “Have some men put that wagon under lock and key. I have lots of evidence in those crates. The two girls they doped are at the doctor in Tombstone. Fred will bring them when they can travel. One more guy is being arrested in Tombstone to join them tomorrow.”

  “Hell of a roundup.”

  One by one the prisoners were stripped, given prison clothes, and registered.

  “Name?” the clerk asked

  “I won’t be in here long. You don’t need it,” Thrasher said.

  “You are going to be charged with white slavery, mister. Tell me your name.”

  “Archibald Thrasher.”

  “Your address?”

  “Post office box 36, Tucson, Arizona Territory.”

  “Step over there and put on prison clothes.”

  “I will be bailed out shortly.”

  “Wearing those prison clothes or naked. What will it be?” the deputy asked.

  “I’ll do it.”

  “Name?”

  “Louis Benfield. I was just checking on my ranch.”

  “Address?”

  “510 San Marcus. Tucson.”

  “Step over there and put on those clothes.”

  “I am not going to be here long.”

  The clerk was a big man, and his patience looked close to exploding. He rose up. “You have hearing problems?”

  “No sir.” And he did as told.

  “Jason Fulbright, Tombstone.”

  The next prisoner was a bowlegged cowboy. “Jennings Carter—Tombstone.”

  “Alfred Crown. Tombstone.”

  “Red Combs—Tombstone.”

  “Jerry Brown—Tombstone”

  “What are the wounded ones’ names?” the clerk asked.

  “Pete Hale,” Chet said. “The one worse off is Jim something.”

  “Manning,” Red said.

  “Thank you.”

  “Add Bracken Kilton. They are bringing him in today.”

  “I have it.”

  “Thanks.”

  “What now?” Ben asked.

  “I need warrants to search both Thrasher’s and Benfield’s town houses and business for more records. I have ajar of some thirty or more naked girls’ pictures I feel they sold in the past. While we don’t know where they are, the grieving parents that lost them need to see their faces.”

  “How much did they sell them for?” Ben asked.

  “I never heard, but I think some brought high prices. I hope I have some of that information in the records in that wagon.”

  “My men stabled those horses. They were worn out.”

  “I knew that it was a long drive over here last night.”

  “Get your man. My cook is bringing all of you breakfast in my office.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You are getting to be a regular customer of mine,” Ben laughed, taking him upstairs. “My clerk is making you a list.”

  “We arrested them after dark under some coal oil lamps. It got pretty tough. There is a dead man on the porch that I suppose we need to send for. We had no room. He was resisting arrest. Came out with a shotgun in the middle of it all.”

  “I will send a local funeral home down to get him and have the body brought here.”

  “The federals will pay the bill.”

  “They will feed them, too,” Ben said with a smile.

  “The ring is going to be on you. There are two of them in jail.”

  “I saw who you arrested. I am a lawman, not an appeaser. The federal government is charging them for high crimes. I have no say-so about that or their release.”

  “Thanks for breakfast. I see Jesus found his.”

  His partner looked up and smiled. “Pretty damn good, too.”

  “Hell, anything would be good.”

  Chet sat down like he’d shed a large load, bowed his head, and silently prayed thanks. It had been a really long night that finally worked out. “I need to apply for those search warrants.”

  “I can go explain your situation to Judge Allan Cantor. He’s sitting in. But he’s a tough, law-minded man.”

  “I’ll be—”

  “Just eat. I can talk to him and speed the process.” Ben left them.

  “Long night, partner.”

  “I could lay on the floor and sleep for a week.”

  “Jesus, we did it.”

  “We usually do.”

  “Counting Fred, it takes five of us now.”

  “More outlaws.”

  Chet never did more after that but nod and eat. He was right.

  Chapter 6

  The headlines read WHITE SLAVERS CAUGHT AGAIN.

  U. S. Marshal Chet Byrnes and his men swung a wide loop and have the Pima County jail brim full of suspects in a roundup of the white slave sellers. Last night he and an associate brought these men to the jail. Here is the list of the men to be arraigned today.

  Archibald Thrasher

  Louis Benfield

  Jason Fulbright

  Curly Bob Larson

  Rip Billings

  Texas Jack Holt

  Red Combs

  Pete Hale (wounded)

  Jim Manning (wounded)

  According to our information there is one more prisoner being transported over here to be tried along with them. His name is Bracken Kilton.

  When the federal mars
hals arrested the above men they had two doped-up teenage girls that they intended to sell. The females’ names will not be released. Sheriff Ben Reyes hopes these arrests will end the “white slave trade” in the region. The punishment for those found guilty of such a crime is ten to twenty years of hard labor in a federal prison.

  U. S. Marshal Chet Byrnes of Prescott has been on a relentless chase to round up the slavers and other lawbreakers in our territory. Byrnes, who asks for little credit for his efforts, has been a strong force on the border for several years stopping crimes committed on residents, especially the enslavement of individuals and their children. His prosecution record is one hundred percent so far. All are currently serving federal prison sentences. Hats off to our defender.

  Didn’t take them long to get that copy out.

  Ben came back into the room. “Judge signed the warrants. I am sending two deputies to both residences to guard everything. No one will get to anything, until you come and take it all. And no bond hearings today.”

  “Spencer, Fred, and Miguel will be here sometime. Maybe my wife Liz. Jesus and I will be sleeping at the hotel.”

  “We can handle it.”

  * * *

  Two hours later, Liz joined him in bed. They both slept until late in the evening. When he woke up she was brushing her hair.

  “You get Kilton?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he answered.

  Liz sighed. “I could hardly leave those poor girls once they woke up. They both live near Thatcher and gave the authorities the names of those who brought them down to Kilton. It was so sad, but at least they aren’t in Mexico in slavery. Their parents are coming for them. The doctor said he thought they’d be okay. Those three girls Kilton kept in his camp are not sane. No one knows them. Virgil Earp says he has a church group who will care for them until the state can move them to a care place.”

  “That was how Miguel and Spencer found them,” Chet said.

  “Kilton should be hung for what he did to them. The doctor said that the doping and the fear drove them mad,” Liz answered.

  “I am not the judge.”

  “I recall you telling me about chasing some killers and rapists across the Verde wilderness and that you hung them. I want them hung after I found those poor girls in that state.”

  “We have better law enforcement now,” Chet said.

  “No!” she cried. “He needs hanging.”

  He held her tight as her tears soaked into the shirt he had on. “He and the others will get what they deserve here in court.”

  “Oh, Chet. This deal has me so upset. Those men had only one purpose—to sell and get rich.”

  “They’re in jail and their fancy lawyers can’t get them out on bond to skip away.”

  “I know. I know. But it is such a bad crime. Killing them would not have been as mean.”

  “I need to go see the sheriff. He is helping us. And I have two houses to search for evidence.”

  “I can help, but we had better eat first.”

  “Yes.”

  He woke the others and they all got up and dressed. Not one of them was completely rested but they stumbled downstairs and ate in the restaurant. It was seven p.m.

  “How did it go?” he asked them.

  “Kilton was no problem to arrest. Liz and a woman that Virgil recommended interviewed the women. They decided none of the three were in their right mind and a church will protect them until Arizona can find a place for them. No way they can testify in court,” Spencer said as their food was served.

  Miguel added, “The other two girls are fine. A doctor is tending to them. They will testify and we have the names of the kidnappers who brought them to Kilton.”

  “The sheriff has all the men under lock and key. So next we search Benfield’s and Thrasher’s houses and businesses for more evidence. I have no idea what we will find, but we will look.” Chet held up his fork. “The wagon and the contents from the ranch are under lock and key at the jailhouse.”

  “Were their lawyers still at the jail door?” Jesus asked.

  “Some of the young ones,” Spencer said.

  “The sheriff cut off their big lawyer last night. He threatened to remove Ben from office if he didn’t bend and Ben told him what to do—go home.”

  “I bet we haven’t heard the last of him,” Spencer said.

  “This will be a larger fight than our last one. We have a new judge sitting, but so far he’s held their feet to the fire. Liz, Fred, and I will take Archibald Thrasher’s house then his business. You three do the same for Benfield’s place.”

  They parted after supper.

  Late in the night, Liz, who sat under a lamp on the dining room table of Thrasher’s house, found large amounts deposited in Thrasher’s account. They were listed as cattle sales.

  Liz called to him. “Chet, come here. Can you tell me how he sells cattle year-round to get such large amounts?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “In January he made two cattle sales—one for five thousand and another for three.”

  “Does it continue?”

  “One month he made three sales, one for as much as seven thousand dollars.”

  Chet looked over her shoulder at the details. “Some of those checks were from Diego Obregon in Nogales. See there. I bet he isn’t buying beef.”

  “I bet he’s the Mexican connection.”

  “I agree. We will get him, too. Take damn good care of that ledger.”

  “Wait. Jefferson Carlisle paid him seven thousand dollars for more cattle a month ago. He lives at Silver City, New Mexico.”

  “At this rate we may not get home for a while. Any more hits in the U.S.?”

  “Yes. Two different buyers paid three thousand apiece for more cattle.”

  “What else?”

  “Over here are more. One buyer lives in Colorado. One in California. The deputies who were here when we came said Thrasher’s wife and children went to live with their friends here in town.”

  “He didn’t get her to burn all of this before we got here, so I bet she had no idea what he was doing.”

  “You want more evidence?” she asked him.

  “If you find it.”

  “I am ready to sleep some more.”

  “Back at the hotel?”

  “Yes, this place makes me feel creepy.” She stood and hugged her arms.

  He took the ledger with them and told the deputies on guard they needed more time to search but both needed some sleep.

  The two said the house would be protected until they told them the search was over.

  Chet thanked them and they left for the hotel.

  * * *

  At seven a.m., the entire crew was in the restaurant.

  “Did you find anything at Benfield’s house?” Chet asked.

  “We didn’t read all of them. But he had correspondence with some potential buyers in his desk. Notes on buyers too,” Spencer said.

  “Good. He will do time.”

  A waiter brought him a note from Ben. The judge wanted to go over plans at ten a.m. He had already been getting pressure from D.C.

  “I can go back and finish the search of Thrasher’s house.”

  “Jesus will go with you.”

  Jesus nodded agreement.

  “Wire Virgil at Tombstone to be sure those two girls are under armed guard when they are transported to Tucson for the trial. No telling what the ring will do to get their men off.”

  “I can do that,” Spencer said. “We never thought about that.”

  “Everyone go armed and find Fred a badge so he can be armed. The ring will do anything, including kill all of us. Always go two or more. I am going to meet with the judge. Pressure from Washington means they’re upset. We have a strong case, and they want it swept under the rug before headlines expose their members committing criminal activities for profit.”

  Spencer shook his head. “This isn’t like catching rustlers with cattle in their hands without their brand, is i
t?”

  “Much more complicated.”

  “That’s for damn sure.”

  Chet and Miguel headed for the justice building. Spencer and Fred would send the wire to Virgil and then search Benfield’s house for more evidence. Liz and Jesus were going to finish the Thrasher search.

  Ben took Chet and Miguel to Judge Allan Cantor’s office.

  “Judge Cantor, this is the lawman who brought that gang in. Miguel Costa is one of his men.”

  “You have sure caused a big fire, but I must commend you. Arresting that bunch took courage. I understand you have two victims to testify.”

  “Two girls. They were seriously drugged, but they are being brought here.”

  “You have some parties arrested with them who, their lawyers say, were swept up in the arrests but were innocent of any crimes, merely checking on their interests at the ranch.”

  “Your Honor, we have uncovered a lot of damning evidence on both those men, tying them to their involvement in the slavery trade.”

  “Marshal Byrnes, this is an incredible number of arrests and evidence you and your men have uncovered. I have no plans to cut those two out of the case set up by the staff of prosecutors. Thanks for informing me.”

  Two other men in suits were hustled in.

  “Marshal Byrnes, these men are your prosecutors. Richard Murray and Carl Burton.”

  “This is my man Miguel Costa. Nice to meet you.” They shook hands.

  Chet realized they were certainly not ranch folks—both, obviously by dress and speech, were from the Midwest or east of that.

  “We were held up by some concerned citizens on the street, sir, or we would have been here sooner.”

  “Held up?”

  “Some businessmen who feel Mr. Thrasher and Mr. Benfield are being held under false charges.”

  The judge said, “Marshal Byrnes, you might explain.”

  “They are not innocent. I have enough evidence to send them to jail for twenty years.”

  “Excellent. We made them no promises except we would present our case.”

  “No one can pressure a court to forgo the prosecution of anyone arrested by authorities and charged with crimes.”

  “Yes sir. But why are these businessmen so adamant about their innocence?”

  “You two have not been here long. There is a ring of unscrupulous businessmen who manage the economy around here undercover. Those two accused belong to that secret society.”