Thomas took up a position across the street from the saloon after dark, and waited. Something about what Belle had told him didn’t ring true. His father had told both him and James, long ago, to trust their instincts. If something didn’t sound true, it probably wasn’t.
So he decided to see if Belle went someplace in town that he might find interesting. Maybe the Flemings were there, and she was covering for them. Maybe everybody—including the sheriff—was covering for them because it was Nogales.
He’d wait and see.
It was more than an hour before Belle finally came out the batwing doors. The saloon was busier than it was when he’d been inside. And there she was, still wearing her dress, but covering her shoulders and breasts with a shawl. She came out the doors, turned right and started walking at a brisk pace.
Remaining on his side of the street, he followed.
At this time of night, in a cafe that busy, a saloon girl should have been at work. The fact that she was outside and rushing like that had to mean something. He just hoped she wasn’t checking on a sick friend or mother.
Keeping her in sight wasn’t hard. His eyes were used to the shadows, and the streets of Nogales were empty this time of night. It didn’t take long to find out she wasn’t going to see her mother. After three blocks, she turned right and went down a dark side street. Thomas hurriedly crossed and followed her.
On the main street there was occasional light from the odd street lamp or coming from a window, but on this street there didn’t seem to be any. However, Belle knew exactly where she was going and moved at a fast, surefooted pace.
Thomas, trying to keep up and not lose sight of her, barely avoided a couple of bad spills as he skirted the odd barrel or box that blocked the boardwalk for some reason.
Finally she left the street and cut down between buildings. He stopped at the mouth of the alley to watch and listen. It was pitch dark down there and he couldn’t see her at all. Suddenly he heard a knocking, and then a door opened, bathing both Belle and the alley in bright light. Whoever had opened the door for her stepped back and she entered. The door closed behind her, once again leaving the alley in darkness.
Thomas entered and moved slowly toward where he thought the door was. As he crept along in the darkness, he noticed there were windows, but they were blocked from inside so that no light came out.
He felt along the wall and found the door as his eyes finally adjusted to the pitch black. Looking down, he saw no light from beneath it. Either the room just inside was dark, or someone had blocked the crack beneath the door, as they had blocked the windows.
He listened at the door, didn’t hear anything. Next he tried the door knob, but the door was locked. He figured there was only one way he was going to get inside.
He knocked.
Inside, two men were listening to Belle tell them about Thomas,
“the deputy.”
“He wanted to know about Red,” she said.
“What did you tell him?” Adam Grey asked.
“Nothin’,” she said. “I told him I didn’t know Red Fleming, only heard of him.”
“Did he believe you?” Johnny Widmark asked.
“Sure he did.”
Widmark looked up from his seated position near the older Grey, who was standing.
“Sure he did,” he said. “He musta.”
“We’ll have to get word across the border to Red,” Grey said. “He’ll wanna know.”
“He already knows,” Widmark said. “He told us, remember?”
“He said somebody might come after him, he didn’t know who,” Grey said. “Probably a badge. We’ll have to tell him who it is.”
“We don’t know who it is,” Widmark said. “Just a deputy.”
“We’ll find out,” Widmark said.
“How?” Belle asked.
“We’ll ask the right person.”
“And who’s that?” Widmark asked.
“Who do ya think?”
“The sheriff?”
“Got it the first time,” Grey said. “Is he in the other room?”
“Yeah,” Widmark said. “He’s bettin’ on the fights.”
“Okay.”
“So what do I do?” Belle asked.
“Just go back to work,” Grey said. “And don’t—”
At that moment there was a knock at the alley door.
“Who’s that?” Belle asked.
“Relax, it’s probably somebody lookin’ for a game,” Widmark said.
“Should I get it?” Grey asked.
“I’ll get it,” Widmark said. “Just in case. You take Belle out the front.”
“Adam—” Belle said.
“Go ahead!” he said.
“Come on!” Widmark snapped, grabbing her arm. He pulled her into the game room.
Widmark walked into the adjoining room, to the alley door, and opened it.