by Zoey Kane
“Well, I think so. I saw blood spattered on the windshield. I guess he is dead.”
“Oh, yeah, he is really dead, ladies,” confirmed Captain Daniel as he snapped his seatbelt closed and started the car, heading back to the ranch.
“We could be bloody and turned over,” Claire said. “I’m feeling pretty thankful right now. You aren’t beating yourself up are you, Mom? I mean, you killed two men now. The notches on your belt are adding up like a gunslinger.”
Daniel laughed.
Failing to see the humor, Zo answered, “We need to get away from this dude ranch. I need a vacation!”
“Have you thought of a cruise?”
Silence.
Daniel teased, “Wait ‘til the people there hear that you shot their beloved ol’ Mackey!”
“Thanks for making me feel better.”
“Don’t worry, Mom. And this too shall pass.” Claire’s ponytail bounced as they hit a few more bumps on their way back to the ranch.
Zo wondered where her rose metallic sunglasses were, wanting to disappear behind them until her adrenaline rush slowed down. “I feel a Sam Spade moment.”
“Yeah! Let’s hear it.”
“It was always the same. They seemed innocent enough, but in the long run, all had one thing in common—they’d kill their grandma for a buck.”
With that evaluation, in the rearview mirror a smile brightened Captain Daniel’s face.
“I guess dispatch finally alerted the Sheriff’s Department,” assumed Zo.
“Are you kidding? Your gunfight with Mackey was heard all over the valley. A chase and run! Couldn’t have made it any better in the movies.” Daniel was shaking his head with delight and amazement.
Claire leaned forward, resting a slender arm across the front seat. “Then there was the Bolo battle.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “There hasn’t been anything like that since the 1800s around here. I’ll tell you one thing, people won’t soon forget the Kane women.” His eyes crinkled at the corners with an open smile, verging on a laugh. “Remember, don’t speak of anything about me being at Devil’s Tooth—ever!”
“Gotcha!” Claire understood and so did her mom.
Zo admired Captain Daniel’s hair pulled back into a sleek, low ponytail, draping over his uniform.
“What did Hank give you?” Zo asked her daughter.
“He handed me a bead.” She pulled the amethyst gift out of her jeans’ pocket.
“He is such a show-off!” Daniel said with pride. “He is so good at what he does.”
“I’ll say! We are standing here alive because of him,” declared Claire.
Zo asked, “Exactly where can the Keelywot warriors be found? I would like to send a thank-you gift to them, somehow.”
“You won’t find them. They show up as they please, and there’s no determining how, why, or when.”
“There was one who stationed himself at the battle scene. The department will have to take a record of what he says,” said Claire.
“Don’t worry, I got that handled. I’ll say it was an Indian-nation deputies event. The council will never reveal anything else.” He paused. “Aren’t you girls forgetting something?”
“Probably, but our minds are traumatized,” answered Zo.
“The gold!” Claire remembered.
“Oh, my goodness!” Zo sat up, wide-eyed. “Our day isn’t over yet.”
Daniel wheeled the car around and soon passed their smoldering ATV.
“Sorry. You are going to think we’re ungrateful,” Zo apologized.
He put his finger up to his lips in warning, and whispered, “I was talking about your purse. What gold?!” The late-model sheriff’s car sped smoothly along until they reached the old Bolo pickup, leaving a cloud of dust to settle behind them.
Daniel exited, soon returning with a purse and heavy tote bag. He placed it on his passenger seat. As they left the wilderness, driving toward the ranch’s gate, the shot-up ATV unexpectedly exploded into a ball of flames behind them.
Zo said, “And that is the rest of the story.”
Daniel drove them up to the front office and escorted them to their room.
“I want to clear up one little mystery for you,” Daniel said, dropping the tote of gold gently onto the bed. The ladies looked up at him. “The Indian you saw looking through your window was one of us. Victor was trying to see if you had taken off the silver cuff, and was going to sneak in to retrieve it. It’s always better if no one gets involved with it.”
Zo and Claire nodded.
“But then, along comes Roy with his annoying habit of patrolling the grounds, and when he found him outside the window of his new best friend, he ran him off… but not before he nipped the trophy-feather off his head.”
“Thanks for clearing that up. We were wondering about that,” Zo said.
“And I didn’t want to say anything…” he said sheepishly, “but Victor is the one who ransacked your room. I didn’t think he’d be as gung-ho as to mess everything up for you.”
“Hm. I think Claire and I ought to go home.” Zo looked over at her daughter for her approval.
“Yes, I am getting homesick, just for a matter of survival. It can’t be too soon.”
“So,” Zo continued, “I am going to make arrangements to be picked up for a flight home.”
“I have to make some arrests,” Daniel’s dark eyes looked regretful. “Sorry I can’t take you to the airport.”
“It will be all right, I assure you. Thank you for everything.” Zo hugged Daniel around the neck and kissed him on the cheek.
“Don’t say goodbye just this minute. I want to talk to you a little more. I have to go now on business.”
Zo said, “Okay,” and Daniel left, locking the door from the inside as he went out.
“Mmmm, that was disturbing. He locked the door before he left,” noticed Claire. “What? Isn’t our murderous adventure over with yet?”
“Start packing your stuff, sweetie.” Zo took out Claire’s phone from her pocket. “I’m going to see if we can leave today.”
“Okay, Mom. What should we pack our clothes in? Plastic bags?” She put her hands on her hips, looking around.
Zo finished her call home while Daniel was out. He returned, carrying two black duffel bags under his arm that read in silver, SHERIFF’S DEPT. “These are a decent size. Hope they help.”
He headed back out, saying as he grabbed the doorknob to close it behind him, “I’ll see you before you take off.”
“Yes,” Zo said gratefully.
“Thanks. These should do it.” Claire zipped open a duffel bag on her cot and started stuffing it with her few acquired clothes. Her phone rang as she set her lace-up boots securely into a side compartment. It was Brooks, asking that she and her mom meet him for lunch.
SEVENTEEN
All packed, with duffel bags in the office, they entered The Rusted Buckle. Brooks took a corner booth, awaiting them. To their pleasant surprise, nobody turned to stare as they walked by. Brooks slid out to let Claire in, and Zo sat across from them.
“Did you hear?” he asked. “Somebody shot Mackey. In fact, there was a big shootout with Indians an’ miners like in the olden days. At least that’s the rumor.”
The women widened their eyes, keeping their knowledge to themselves.
Brooks sat and rested an arm on the table, leaning forward to continue his report. “I rode out to see, but there were sheriff cars all over, sending people back, including a news van.”
“Really? Wow!” chirped Claire, looking over at her mother. “Well, I am suddenly feeling like a hamburger with the works. How ’bout you, Mom?”
“Shrimp, baked potato, and salad for me, with raspberry lemonade.”
“I like to see ladies with good appetites!” Brooks said approvingly.
“Hey, guys.” It was Bill coming over, lightly sunburned, and glad to see everyone.
“Where have you been?” asked Brooks.
“Doing what everyone else does—looking for gold. Haven’t found one flake of it. I’m beginning to think The Lost Dutchman’s Mine is only a myth.”
“Really?” Zo said, feeling sympathy. “Well now what are you going to do?”
“I have to arrange to get out of here somehow. I’m sorry my map led to nothing.”
Brooks cocked a blond eyebrow. “You had a map too?”
Bill ignored the comment, asking, “What are you ladies going to do now?”
“Mom has made plans to go home soon after lunch. Do you need a ride?”
Brooks took hold of Claire’s hands at the news.
“Well…” a sparkle of interest appeared in Bill’s eyes. “I might stay a bit longer. It’s just been a few days, and I’m not saying I don’t believe in the mine. I’m just a little more skeptical.”
Zo said, “I understand.”
He left them with a halfhearted wave.
Brooks looked at Claire with longing in his blue eyes, “You’re leaving so soon.”
“You have my phone number, cutie.” She kissed his cheek.
Marlene and Richard took a booth across the way, very quietly. Marlene was looking down. Claire nudged her mother to take a glance.
Cindy arrived just then, her pen poised. “Hi. Do you folks know what you want?”
They placed their orders and Cindy asked before she departed, “Did you hear about Mackey in a shootout with some miners? They killed him. Sad news.”
“That’s what he said.” Zo nodded toward Brooks.
Claire shook her head over the real story that revealed Mackey’s true character.
“I am so astonished,” Cindy added. “Everyone is.”
Claire glanced back at Marlene. What a vicious woman, and so reminiscent of a girl Claire went to school with, who literally knocked her off the sidewalk a couple of times.
“I think…” Zo said, “that everyone will be even more astonished when more news comes in. I predict that.” By then, she thought, she and Claire would be long gone from the drama.
Claire nodded, “For sure!”
Brooks sat silently.
Cindy smoothed a blond curl behind an ear and left to place the order.
The lunch was delicious. Every once in a while, Brooks would glance over at Marlene’s booth. She must have felt his attention coming her way as she looked up at him finally. He diverted his eyes immediately. His eyes met Claire’s, and he said, sounding a little embarrassed, “Just making sure she doesn’t get any ideas about coming over here for another go-round with your mother.”
Zo wasn’t too worried about the woman of late. Her eyes drifted to the diner’s entryway, where she spotted Daniel, standing with a couple officers. After saying some final words, of which she could hear none, the handsome captain approached her booth with a serious expression. Brooks picked up his napkin and wiped his palms, changing his demeanor, as if expecting unhappy news.
Daniel slid in beside Zo. “I have that information for you now,” he told her. “We know who a couple of people are in the counterfeit ring.”
“Who?” they all asked, including Brooks.
Daniel clasped his hands on the table. “Mackey was the number one boss of the operation. All the names were on those business papers you gave me: bank accounts, purchase orders, everything, including the receipt to their generator. We also have forensic evidence that he was the shooter. Ed and George were clowns involved in that operation as mock prospectors, but actually were guards and gofers.”
Everyone sat mutely as Daniel continued to unravel the case. Brooks took a moment to say, “Mackey wasn’t making any money with this ranch, I know. He was worried he’d have to shut it down.”
Daniel nodded. “What we don’t know is how Elena got involved with Mackey.”
“Give him the letter we found, Mom,” Claire nudged.
“Right!” Zo pulled it out of her purse and handed it over.
He read the paper. “This is interesting.”
“We forgot to tell you,” Zo said. “Last night, Mackey and another guy came into Elena’s room, where we found this letter. We had to go out a window to keep from getting caught. He obviously was there looking for something, maybe this. Otherwise, why else would he have followed us to Devil’s Tooth?”
“I would say this is the piece of the puzzle for why she got killed.” Daniel looked satisfied.
Claire interjected, “Okay, but who was the other guy in the room? We couldn’t tell because the two men were whispering.”
Everyone eyed each other with interest, stumped. Brooks wiped a hand across his forehead and said, “Hmm…”
Claire held up a piece of leather fringe, a turquoise-colored bead around it. “Maybe it wasn’t a man after all. Got this off a chair at the site.” She tapped the fringe with a spoon and nodded toward Marlene, who was wearing a leather skirt, the same tan color as the strip. Not only that, but it was adorned with identical turquoise beads.
Daniel pulled out his cell phone, pushed in some numbers, and looked over at the two deputies standing beside the door. He spoke quietly, then nodded at them. They moved swiftly to Marlene and Richard’s booth, to arrest Marlene and ask Richard to come along.
Marlene’s stoic expression was cemented. Then, she stood up in the booth, trying to climb over the back for an escape. It didn’t work. She was grabbed by both officers, pulled out and handcuffed between them. They walked about two steps when Marlene did a somersault halfway over the cuffs, but the officer’s arm was rigid, foiling her success. That resulted in her riding upside down between the officers, all the while cussing at them.
“Ah, honey, your panties are showing,” said Richard, seeming rather shocked by the episode.
“Shut up, Richarrrrd!”
The officers carried her a few steps, upside down, when she began throwing kicks. All three of them went to the floor, struggling as if in a game of Twister. It was a humiliating sight. The dignity of the sheriff seemed compromised by butts in the air, and red-scrunched faces on the floor. Two more officers came running over to unlock the cuffs, and pull out Marlene, just to cuff her again and drag her out aggressively. One of them held onto her wrists. Marlene acknowledged the pain, saying “Oh, oh, oh!” as they went. However, there was no irate yelling; she didn’t even protest. She kept her eyes down, looking at the floor while escorted out by the elbow, with Richard looking on, growing tighter in the face.
Jed Hatter, who bought Richard a beer the time Marlene was eighty-sixed, excused himself from the table and followed out after them.
“Let’s try and break the code here—Camram Sko.” Daniel brought them back to the matter of Elena’s note.
“We were too busy, running away to give it much thought,” explained Zo.
“What about you, Brooks? Do you want to give it a try?”
He shook his head.
“Okay then.” Daniel took out a pen and wrote on the napkin for everyone to see: Cam—(Mac)key, ram —(Mar)lene. “Both are in code for the first letters of their last names written backwards.”
Zo agreed. “Well, that would be further testimony to Marlene’s guilt.”
“And Sko?” Claire leaned forward, wondering.
Daniel pursed his mouth to the side before saying with a sigh, “That would be you, Brooks.” Daniel put parentheses, like Bro(oks). “It’s the last part of your name written backwards.”
Brooks leaned back, his eyes shut, knitting his eyebrows together. He sat up and said to Claire, “The night you found me clubbed on the head? That was me trying to get out of any further doings with Mackey. I said I wanted out. He wasn’t having any of it. He told me if I didn’t want money, I didn’t have to take it, an’ all the more for him. But the only way I could be out was when he became a pallbearer at my funeral! Then he backed that up with a hit to my head with the butt of his gun. I really, really regret ever listening to his plan.”
“What about your horse missing?” Claire asked, hoping to fill in all the holes.
“Lucy started limping, so Mackey called the vet. In the meantime, he needed to borrow Goldstrike to get over to the cave. He shot George there. He was afraid George would talk, and warned me that I could be next, if I didn’t wise up! I am so sorry, Claire! Really, I am.” His eyes pleaded for understanding.
Claire responded with saddened eyes and a hopeless sense of not knowing what to say. Her mouth opened, but no words came out.
Daniel let out a long exhale. “Okay, Brooks, I have to arrest you now. Stand up.” He stood up and Daniel cuffed him. “You are under arrest for conspiracy,” Daniel spoke in a low voice, walking him away.
Brooks looked over his shoulder a moment and mouthed the word “Sorry” again to Claire.
Claire’s phone rang. “Hello? Okay, thanks. We’ll do that.” She ended the call. “Our ride is here, Mom. Let’s go.”
Zo left a nice tip for Cindy before joining Claire on the way out of the diner.
In the foyer, there were a couple feds and sheriff deputies. Brooks was standing with a deputy, who had hold of his arm. When Zo and Claire walked by the limp, hogtied Marlene, under straps used for securing the arrests of wild, combative prisoners, she suddenly became animated again. The officer squeezed her arm in hopes of reining her in.
“At least I’m not a phony,” Marlene growled at Zo. “That’s what you are—a phony, a wannabe. This whole counterfeit operation couldn’t have even gelled if not for my talent, my artistic expertise, so accurate, so detailed as to even make a perfect replication of a twenty-dollar bill. And what are you? Maybe you could get a job waiting tables here. That is, if your kind ever decides to work a single day in your life.”
Zo spoke. “Marlene, I could never work here, because I haven’t got what it takes to multitask and do all the work that Cindy does. It’s far beyond my capability—and yours. Plus, your feet are too flat. You wouldn’t last two hours.”
The duo walked out onto the porch. There were law enforcement vehicles everywhere, marked and unmarked. One of the ranch hands met the Kanes on the porch. “We’ve got your luggage already on board, ma’am. They pulleyed it up,” he said to Zo in a raised voice, “except for this one.” He patted a heavy tote, not knowing what was inside. “Captain Daniel ordered that we pulley it last, with you standing watch.”