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O’DELL AND ARNIE LEFT in the morning. Joy expected to see the sheriff and his deputy soon afterwards, but they did not appear. Growing concerned, she had Billy ask Flinty if he could come and keep watch from the second floor with Mr. Wheatley.
Around three o’clock, Mark, the son of one of David’s deacons, tapped on the door. Breona let him in, and he asked for Joy.
“Miss Joy, we got some trouble. Pastor sent me over t’ let you know ’bout it.”
“What is it?” Rose came up behind Joy and they both held their breath.
“We’re told the sheriff an’ his nephew were ambushed last night on their way home. Group o’ men with clubs. He an’ his nephew managed t’ get away but they couldn’t get back t’ the sheriff’s house, so they went t’ the pastor’s place.”
“Are they all right?” Joy began to feel light-headed.
“Sheriff got busted up pretty good,” the boy replied. “Miz Kalbørg, she’s doctorin’ both of ’em. We’re keeping it real quiet so no one knows where they are.”
So Banner and his men hadn’t waited to strike back, and Wyndom and Luke were injured and hiding at David and Uli’s.
Joy’s hand went to her throat.
—
O’DELL AND ARNIE STEPPED off the train and O’Dell set the pace, Arnie close behind him. Several blocks later they entered the Denver Pinkerton office.
“Bickle!” O’Dell forged his way to Beau Bickle’s office. “Things are breaking open on our kidnapped girls case.”
He introduced Arnie and outlined the events of the last week. “Two very young girls, Ruby and Beth, found their way to the lodge belonging to Arnie’s cousin and asked for help. Not in Breezy Point, but a little town west of here—Corinth.
“Arnie’s cousin, Joy Thoresen, and the sheriff brought them down from Corinth yesterday and then put them on a train out of the state. Before they left, one of them positively identified Gretl Plüff. She is a girl who has been missing from Boston for eighteen months. She is still being held in Corinth. Additionally, Miss Thoresen has two young women with her who answered the ads and narrowly escaped being kidnapped when they arrived here in Denver.”
O’Dell took a deep breath. “She is hiding an especially ‘valuable’ girl who escaped from the ‘gentlemen’s club’ in Corinth—that said club is owned by Dean Morgan. You must have heard of him here in town. The gang of thugs that manages security for Morgan has been looking hard for that girl.
“They broke into and vandalized the lodge Miss Thoresen owns a few weeks ago. Although they didn’t find the young lady, they now know with certainty that we helped two of ‘their’ girls escape from Corinth. Things are coming to a head, so Arnie’s cousin is asking Pinkerton to provide security.”
Bickle looked unblinking at O’Dell. “Could I have a word with you, Ed? In private?”
With a sinking feeling, O’Dell gave an affable answer. “Sure, Beau. Say, Arnie, would you mind waiting in the lobby for me?” He opened the door for Arnie and, as he turned his back to Bickle, whispered, “Watch out,” before closing the door behind him.
“You know, Ed, I tried to be a friend when you were here last, tried to steer you away from trouble. Now I’m not sure how to handle you.” Bickle managed to sound a little remorseful.
“McParland know you’re on the take, Beau?” O’Dell kept his tone neutral even as he seethed inside.
“I told you. He’s away, and Siringo retired last year. So I’m in charge.”
“They paying you well?”
“Well enough. And it is not as though I’m breaking the law—they have enough cops and politicians on the take here for that. I’m just . . . overlooking a few things when they cross my desk.”
“That explains a lot. Like how we could never intercept anyone at the mail boxes. Like that wild-goose chase you sent me on to Breezy Point.”
Bickle nodded. “You need to understand, Ed. Denver is still a young city, a little wild and rough around the edges. Still sorting things out, so to speak. People make their fortunes in a town like this. Why, the political convention this past summer brought 50,000 visitors to Denver, mostly men, many of whom needed some entertainment.”
Bickle cocked his head to the side. “The question is, Ed, are you willing to make a little extra under the table? Or are you determined to make the biggest mistake of your life?”
O’Dell snorted in derision. “You need to ask?”
“Well, I’m sorry, I truly am, Ed.” Bickle lifted the revolver he had hidden in his lap. “Let’s take a little walk, shall we?”
“You sure you want to do that?” Every finger of O’Dell’s hands wanted to wrap themselves around Bickle’s throat.
“Got to. Now let’s move.”
O’Dell turned around and Bickle placed the barrel of the gun in the middle of his lower back. “Just open the door and walk, Ed. And don’t make a fuss.”
They stepped through the door. O’Dell, keeping his head straight forward, still caught a glimpse of gray suit coat on his right as Arnie’s arm came down behind Bickle’s head. O’Dell heard a satisfying crunch and Bickle sank to the floor. Arnie held an old-fashioned six-shooter by the barrel.
“You know how to use that?” O’Dell asked.
“Only as a club. It is not even loaded,” Arnie replied.
O’Dell laughed and then snatched up Bickle’s gun. The two of them hauled the felled Pinkerton man back into his office. O’Dell threw open a closet and they stuffed him inside, locking his office door behind them, and leaving the Pinkerton building.
“We do not have much time. Need to get a wire off to Groman letting him know the situation. Then we need to get back on that train to Corinth before Bickle wakes up and alerts those in local law enforcement who are dirty.”
Recognizing how outgunned they would be in Corinth, O’Dell put as much information into the messages as he could while still trying to keep the text cryptic. Wanting to ensure that someone tracked down McParland, he copied the wire to both the Omaha and the Chicago office. Then he and Arnie caught the afternoon D&RGW out of Union Station.
The household at the lodge gathered around to hear what O’Dell had to report. After Joy finished telling O’Dell and Arnie about Sheriff Wyndom and his nephew, O’Dell related his and Arnie’s recent experiences, including the disturbing news about Bickle and the Denver Pinkerton office.
“I do not know how many agents—if any—besides Bickle are dirty. What we do know is that the crime bosses in Denver have very good political and police cover. We got a wire off to the Omaha and Chicago offices and can expect them to respond but—” he looked around the kitchen table, “it is not going to be fast and it is not going to be pretty.”
—
THAT EVENING O’DELL stood hidden within the tree line watching and waiting. He did not hear the man approach until he spoke out of the shadows.
“Mr. O’Dell.”
O’Dell recognized the voice. “What are you doing here?” he hissed.
“Your office told me you were here. I couldn’t stay away. You should know—I have to find her!”
O’Dell grunted in frustration and defeat. “I told you that I might have a lead, nothing definite.”
The man nodded and wiped his forehead with his left arm. His other arm hung motionless by his side. “Can you tell me anything at all?”
O’Dell, knowing that things in Corinth were reaching a boiling point, was not pleased by the complication. “I may have found her . . .”
The man’s excitement was palpable. “Can you point her out to me? If I saw her, it might help!”
O’Dell thought about the promise he had made to Arnie. “Soon. I will arrange something, but it needs to wait a few days.”
The man nodded again. “All right. Thank you.”
“Look. Can you trust me a little longer? You need to stay out of sight. Things may get rough here soon.”
“Yes. I can do that. You can count on me.”
Despite the man’s lost memories, O’Dell couldn’t remember knowing a man with more innate dignity. “I know I can, Branch.”
He turned to face the man, but he had melted back into the shadows and was gone.
O’Dell sighed and went back to watching.
~~**~~
