ran year-round, so a half-mile north, and they could have put up their own shack. And it wasn’t as if Johnson was running a huge heard on the range. A one-man operation probably didn’t have more than a dozen head. So, this wasn’t a range war.
He needed to know the truth. He knew he would never be able to rest until he did and heaven knew he had more than a few terrors keeping him up at night. He didn’t need to add to the list.
New territory he thought and that meant scouting things and learning the lay of the land. What? Maybe three, four hundred people here in town. And another couple of hundred in the surrounding countryside. Plus, the Piute, Bannock, and Shoshone villages north and west. Someone must know something. It was just a matter of finding that person.
As he continued to watch the street, he noticed a big man walking down the far boardwalk. The afternoon light glinted off the star on his chest just before he opened the door to the jailhouse.
Grabbing his hat, Luke started down the stairs only to remember the Smithy’s warning about Felton and Cooper. He paused at the front door and slowly examined the street before stepping out. A thousand lessons from Zion flashed through his mind. They had saved him so many times. Reb snipers had sharpened their skill to a fine edge.
Only when he was sure that there was no danger did he open the door all the way and step out onto the boardwalk in front of the hotel. Pausing, he nodded and tipped his hat to an older woman walking with her husband. Her brow furrowed as she looked at him strangely. The husband was more open in his curiosity.
Luke put it aside and started to cross the street. Twice more men studied him. Never disrespectful. More curious like. As if they found it strange to see a dead man walking about them. It took him a moment before he realized that the story about his disagreement with Felton had spread through town like water running downhill.
These people were wondering how long before he was killed. It wasn’t ghoulish or hateful. Just more curious like. A country that was used to death just naturally gravitated to stories about such things and they were wondering how his would end.
A small grin creased his face as he shook his head. It was going to be a shame to disappoint them.
Chapter Six
Luke knocked before opening the jailhouse door and stepping in. The big sheriff sat behind a desk, his feet up as he leaned back in his chair his hands folded across his chest. He quickly assessed his visitor as his eyes narrowed. Luke took a moment to examine his new surroundings. An adobe brick building split in two. The front half set up as an office with a desk and a bunk off to the side. A heavy door in the back led to a small room and a single jail cell with thick iron bars.
Four years of war had taught him about defenses and this place looked like it could survive a bombardment by Mead’s best artillery.
“Sheriff,” Luke said. “I’m Luke Parker. Do you got a minute?”
The man scowled as he put his feet down and brought his chair forward then nodded for Luke to sit. “You the one who braced Felton and Cooper?”
Luke shrugged.
The sheriff continued to scowl “Not the smartest of moves.”
Luke stared back. “This town think it’s acceptable to be bothering good women?”
“No,” the sheriff’s scowl shifted over to a deep frown. “No, I don’t think it does. But I wouldn’t bet on it.”
“Becky, Rebecca Johnson, was telling me you looked into her uncle’s killing.”
The man paused for a moment. “Yep. You could say that. But not a lot a good it did me. Couldn’t find anything. It had rained and the tracks were long washed out. Never found his horse. No one was about town spending money like they found it. But I made sure the sale was all square. Doc Weaver swore he saw it from his seat behind the poker table. Saw Travers hand over the silver and Old Tom Johnson count it out right there on the bar.”
“Which saloon?”
“The Red House. Bill Frost, the tender saw it too. Said how he was surprised but Tom hadn’t been drinking.”
Luke’s mind scrambled to try and understand. “And then this Travers up and disappeared. After selling the spread to the Feltons.”
“He weren’t here