Forty Mile River Read online

  “What are they?”

  Clint showed him.

  “It’s a set of plans for the Parker Mining Company to absorb Ike Daly’s claim.”

  Casey looked at the plans. He couldn’t make heads or tails of them, but he could see what Clint was talking about.

  “And the only way Hector here could have drawn these up was if he knew that Ike was going to be dead.”

  Casey looked at Hector Tailor.

  “What about it?”

  “He’s—he’s crazy.”

  “Well, here are the plans, Mr. Tailor,” Casey said. “Did you have Bent Miller kill Ike Daly?”

  “I’m—I’m only doing what Mr. Parker told me to do.”

  “Parker’s not here,” Clint said, “and you’re going to blame him?”

  “You—you’ll have to talk to Bent,” Hector said. “If he did it, he did it on his own. I never told him to kill anyone.”

  “I don’t believe you, Hector,” Clint said. “But I can’t prove it.”

  “Then you can’t arrest me!” Hector said to Casey.

  “If I arrested you,” Casey said, “I’d have no place to hold you.”

  “Then you have to let me go,”

  “Or,” Casey said, “I could just kill you.”

  Hector’s eyes went wide.

  “You can’t do that to me!” he exclaimed. “You’re the law.”

  Casey looked at Clint.

  “We’ll have to find Miller,” he said, “and the trooper.”

  “And Miller’s men!” Hector said. The more suspects he could give them, the better.

  “His men?”

  “He brought two men with him,” Clint said. “They were outside.”

  “Let’s go talk to them,” Casey said. He looked at Hector. “Don’t try to go anywhere, Mr. Tailor.”

  “Where could I go?” Hector said.

  “If you try to leave town, you’ll die out there,” Casey said. “Keep that in mind.”

  Clint and Casey left the tent, and took the plans with them.

  “Where are those other two men?” Casey asked.

  “They were down there by the river,” Clint said.

  “Then I saw them when I got here, but they’re gone now.”

  “They went to warn Miller,” Clint said.

  “Then we have to find them, and him.”

  “And the trooper.”

  “Back to town then, I guess.”

  FORTY-TWO

  Stash and Rohm ran into Bent Miller on his way back to camp.

  “Better not go there,” Stash said.

  “Why not?”

  “Clint Adams and that marshal, they been in with Tailor.”

  “They see his new plans?”

  “Probably.”

  “Shit.”

  “We didn’t know about the lawmen,” Rohm said. “Or we wouldn’t have—”

  “Wouldn’t have what?” Bent asked.

  “Shut up!” Stash told him.

  Bent studied both of them.

  “You two killed Ike Daly.”

  “I did,” Stash said.

  “What about you?” Bent asked,

  “I was there,” Rohm said, “but somebody choked me out from behind.”

  Jesus, Bent thought. He hadn’t even recognized him when he choked him out.

  “So I had to kill him alone,” Stash said.

  “I was on my way to kill him myself,” Bent said.

  The two men exchanged a glance.

  “So we did the right thing,” Stash said.

  Miller smacked Stash and then Rohm across the mouth. Both men staggered back.

  “You weren’t supposed to do anything until you were told,” he said.

  “So what do we do now?” Rohm said.

  “We’ve got to take care of the lawmen,” Bent said, “and then Adams.”

  “And then what?”

  “Then we’ll kill Hector and take over both mines.”

  “And be rich.”

  “Yeah, I suppose,” Bent said. “Not somethin’ I’ve always wanted, but I think we’re locked in now.”

  “So what do we do first?” Rohm asked.

  “Adams and that marshal are together?”

  “Yeah,” Stash said.

  “Then we find that trooper.”

  Rohm laughed. “Shouldn’t be too hard to find that fella in his red coat.”

  FORTY-THREE

  Clint and Casey were entering town when they heard the shots.

  “Where?” Casey asked, looking around.

  “This way,” Clint said.

  They ran toward the saloon, but even before they reached it, they saw the red in the street.

  “Damn it!” Casey shouted.

  When they reached the trooper, he was dead. He had three bullets in his chest.

  The rain had stopped.

  Clint and Casey stood looking down at the young Mountie.

  “Where do you think they went?” Casey asked.

  “I don’t think they’re hiding,” Clint said.

  “You mean?”

  “In the saloon?”

  “Yep.”

  “I’ll go around back,” Casey said. He looked down at the dead Mountie. “Give me five minutes.”

  Clint nodded.

  Inside the saloon, Bent Miller, Stash, and Rohm were standing at the bar with beers. The bartender stood rigid behind the bar, afraid to move.

  “Think this is smart?” Rohm asked. “Just waitin’ here?”

  “Better than walkin’ around lookin’ for them,” Bent said. “When they come in, you two take the marshal. Adams is mine.”

  “You can have him,” Stash said with feeling.

  Clint waited the five minutes, then went in the front door. He saw the three men standing at the bar.

  “Adams,” Bent Miller said. “Welcome.”

  “It’s all over, Bent,” Clint said. “You and your boys might as well put your guns down.”

  “Not a chance, Adams,” Bent said.

  “Then I’m going to kill you for killing Ike Daly.”

  “What about the trooper?” Miller asked.

  “I’m gonna kill you for that one,” Marshal Casey said from the back of the room.

  Bent, Rohm, and Stash turned to look at the lawman.

  “And what about the girl?” Bent asked.

  “We’re going to throw her in for free,” Clint said.

  Clint saw the two men, Rohm and Stash, turn to face the marshal. Bent Miller turned to face him.

  Casey kept his eyes on the three men, noticed what Clint had noticed. The other two men had turned to face him.

  “Why’d you kill the kid?” he asked. “The trooper.”

  “Because it was easy,” Bent said. “First the trooper, then you two.”

  “And after that?” Casey asked. “You guys get rich, huh?”

  “That’s right,” Stash said. “We take over both mines.”

  “You forget one thing,” Clint said.

  “What’s that?” Rohm asked without looking at him.

  “Ike Daly was my partner,” Clint said. “That mine is mine.”

  “In a few minutes,” Bent Miller said, “that ain’t gonna matter.”

  Clint looked at Bent and said, “Well then, why wait?”

  He drew his gun.

  FORTY-FOUR

  Bent Miller didn’t wait. In a split second he saw that Clint Adams was faster than he’d ever be. He vaulted over the bar as Clint fired.

  Rohm and Stash heard the first shot and drew their guns. Marshal Casey drew his gun and fired calmly while Rohm and Stash got off hurried shots.

  As Miller jumped over the bar, the bartender ran out from behind it, over to Clint.

  “What’s that bar made of?” Clint asked.

  “Hardly nothin’,” the bartender said. “Flimsy as hell.”

  “Okay,” Clint said. “Get out.”

  The bartender ran off.

  Casey fired twice as Rohm and Stash’s sh
ots flew past him on all sides. One bullet hit Rohm in the chest, and the other struck Stash in the forehead. Both men went down hard.

  Clint and Casey met in the middle of the room.

  “Where’s Miller?” Casey asked.

  “Behind the bar.”

  “Shall we?”

  They raised their guns and emptied them into the bar. There was always a chance they missed, but when Bent Miller stood up, there was blood coming out of his mouth. Then he slumped facedown over it.

  Clint and Casey walked out, stopped when they got to the trooper’s body. People had gathered around to see what was happening, but it was still a sparse crowd. The miners were in the mines.

  “What now?” Casey asked.

  “I’m going to find somebody to run the mine for me so I can get out of Alaska. It’s too damn cold.”

  “What about Hector?”

  “By himself, he’s not a threat to anyone. He’ll probably quit and go back to Skagway—or disappear. Parker’ll have to find someone else to do his dirty work.”

  “Want to ride?” Casey asked.

  “Why not? I hated coming in on that pole boat.”

  “I’m sure the trooper would want you to have his horse.”

  “Did you fellas talk on the way here?”

  “Sure.”

  “He got any family? Wife? Kids?”

  “Nobody,” Casey said. “Said the law was his life.”

  “Yeah…”

  “We got to bury him before we go,” Casey said. “Someplace nice.”

  Clint looked at Marshal Casey and said, “I think I know just the place.”

  Watch for

  FRATERNITY OF THE GUN

  370th novel in the exciting GUNSMITH series from Jove

  Coming in October!