Brothers in Blood (2 page)

Raines shrugged. “No, just sold.”

“Then the sheriff benefited from this frame-up, didn't he?”

“You're saying he did this to sell those horses?”

“He sold the horses. Right?”

By this time, they were inside the courthouse lobby and Chet cut off his questioning.

Ahead of him, Raines walked into the sheriff's outer office first, and the deputy frowned at him. “What are you here for?”

“I came to speak to my client, JD Byrnes.”

“He ain't got no business to talk to you about.”

“Diego, go get him.”

“I don't work for you or that
gringo
behind you.”

“I am his attorney, and you can't deny me talking to my client.”

“Get out of here or I'll arrest both of you.”

“Where is the sheriff?”

“He is not available.”

“Tell Hernandez to come see me. The State Attorney General is coming from Santa Fe to talk to him, and he can be prosecuted if he is found failing to uphold the laws of the territory and nation.”

“What can that
bastardo
do?” the deputy asked, motioning toward Chet.

“They can charge Hernandez and try him in court.”

“He is the sheriff. They can't do that.”

“Diego, there are higher men than a county sheriff. Tell him we need to talk before the State Attorney General gets involved.”

“He won't care. They can't tell him what to do.”

“Give him the word. Also tell the judge and prosecutor that we need to have a meeting.”

“All for this
gringo
with you?”

“Tell them this is serious. He won't want the governor down here, too.”

“I will tell him, but it will do no good. He is the law here and what he says is the law. No one sees his prisoners unless he says so.”

Raines held up his hand to silence him. “Do what I said. Tell him we mean business.”

Then he turned to Chet. “He will listen to good sense. Come on.”

Not satisfied with the way things stood, Chet followed the young lawyer outside. Once back in the wind, he pulled down his hat. “What do I need to do?”

“If you have a room, go back and rest. We will work this out.”

“Does this sheriff think he's above the law?”

“Pretty much so, since no one has ever challenged him. A Texas rancher paid him two thousand dollars to get his son released, when all the kid did was shoot someone who was beating him up. I think the sheriff thought JD's father would do the same.”

“I'm his uncle, and a Deputy US Marshal. I intend to clear his name of this hoax.”

“Maybe we can reach some compromise at a meeting with the county officials.”

“I am not paying a sheriff to release an innocent man.”

“I understand. I also understand the court business in this county. He will call for a meeting.”

“I'll be at the Pearl Hotel.” He ducked his head away from the wind. “Where is the telegraph office?”

“Across the street.” Raines pointed.

“Thanks. Does he run that, too?”

The lawyer shrugged. “I will let you know what we need to do next.”

“Thanks.” They parted and Chet went to the telegraph office where a clerk was sending a message out on the key.

“Be right with you,” he said.

Chet nodded and took a yellow paper and wrote on it in pencil.

“I can send that right away. It'll get there in twenty-four hours. Anything else?”

“No. How much?”

“Seventy-five cents.”

Chet paid him.

“Thanks. Where can I reach you for the reply?”

“Pearl Hotel.”

“I know where that is.” The short man with the celluloid visor nodded. “Any time you need me, pound on the door. I'm here twenty-four hours a day.”

Still filled with fury, Chet went back and found his men in their room.

“Do any good?” Cole asked.

“Not really. Raines is setting up a meeting with the sheriff.”

“A meeting about what?” Jesus asked.

Chet sat down and told them the entire story about the Texan who bought his son's freedom.

When Chet finished. Cole said, “This smells worse than the sheriff's office at home.”

“Yes, it does. I wired Marge for the name of the lawyer coming here from Santa Fe. I guess all we can do now is wait.” He knew one thing for sure—he must sit on his temper. Things in this dusty town weren't going to move fast enough to suit him. He got up and paced the floor. “I just hate that I can't talk to JD.”

“We don't have an answer, either,” Jesus said.

That was the problem—there was no answer.

Firecrackers popped like gunshots. Rockets exploded overhead in the night air and threw out blue and red fans. It was New Year's Eve and the Chinese population filled the sky over Socorro with colorful explosions.

Louise, the waitress from the café, hung on to Cole's arm. Chet and Jesus went along with them to the dance hall down the street for what she called a New Year's Eve
fandango
.

The fireworks were interesting, but Chet's mind was on JD's problem. Herman Thomas, the lawyer from the Santa Fe firm of Sullivan, Branch and Alter, was on his way. Chet had sent them a telegram introducing himself and telling them where he was staying. The sheriff's meeting was set for January second in the courtroom. Raines made the arrangements, but acted like that was too sudden for them to do anything.

Chet wrote a long letter to Marge about his impatience at how things were creeping along despite his moves to hurry it up. Luckily, he found a local man who said JD was in the jail and all right, which eased his mind somewhat.

When they were inside the dance hall, Louise asked, “Will you dance with my aunt? She can dance very well.”

“Of course, if I can step on her toes.”

“I don't believe that. I bet you can dance real well.”

“She will see.”

Wooden benches lined the walls around the large room. Louise took him to an empty space, then she and Cole went to find her aunt.

“Her aunt, she is a widow,” Jesus said. “I think she is tall. Louise said she was. So she will be pleased to dance with a tall
hombre.
”

Antoinette Carmichael was tall. Almost as tall as his wife, and a beautiful woman with a light tan complexion and a smooth-skinned face graced with dancing brown eyes and sleepy eyelids. Her hair was pinned up and she wore an expensive blue dress that flattered her full figure.

“Ah,” she said after her niece introduced them.

“She says you will step on my toes. Let's see if you do.” And she held out her arms.

The music was playing, so he swept her away. Head high, she could damn sure dance and he could lead. They swung around the floor almost by themselves, but he knew he had a partner that could really dance.

“Louise says you are married.”

“I have a lovely wife back in Arizona.”

“You have not been married very long?” She dropped an eyelid to look at him for an answer.

“No, only near a year. She was a widow and now she's expecting in May.”

“You never had a wife before her?”

“No. I was serious about some nice ladies, but never married before.”

“She must be a lovely woman to snare a bachelor like you were.”

“Yes, she is. Do you have any children?”

“No. Two died soon after birth and I never had any more. My husband was killed in a mine cave-in. He was a big tall Texan like you.”

They whirled around as if they had danced together for years. She was so quick to take his lead it was automatic. He couldn't understand why someone hadn't chosen to court her.

“You have no man at your door?”

“No. My husband has been dead over a year. I no longer wear black, but I am too fussy. I don't like drunks. Louise says you don't drink.”

“I have a beer or two. I've only been drunk a few times and didn't like it.”

“I won't marry a drunk, so you see that narrows a tall woman's chances of being courted.”

“I'm certain you'll find a man. You dance like a ballerina.”

“Oh, have you seen one of them dance?”

“Yes, I did. In Abilene, Kansas, at the end of a cattle drive. It was a traveling company of dancers.”

“I've heard of them and seen pictures. I am flattered by your words. Tell me about your nephew who is in jail.”

“It's a long story. We finally have a meeting on the second with the sheriff. They've denied me talking to him. JD had to smuggle a letter out of the jail to tell me about his phony trial. Did you ever meet him when he was cowboying around here?”

“No. I heard some gossip is all.”

When the dance ended, he showed her to a place on a bench where Jesus sat. They sat and he began telling her about JD's case.

In the end, she agreed the sheriff had too much power. She'd also heard about the other Texas boy whose father had to buy his way out of jail.

“You didn't offer them money?” She smiled knowingly at him.

“No. I want him cleared of those charges. Might have been a damn sight easier to pay them than go this route, but I can't stand for injustices to go on.”

“There are many that agree, but Hernandez counts the votes. Excuse me.” She rose and took Jesus' hand.

“Come with me. You can dance, can't you?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Some of my family girls are seated on a bench over there and dying to dance with you.”

She turned back to Chet. “I will be right back. This nice cowboy needs to dance. It is New Year's Eve.”

Chet agreed, amused at this strong woman who led his man across the room to meet her girls. She reminded him in many ways of Marge. He'd like to be home to take her to the schoolhouse dance, but this JD jail business had to be settled.

Antoinette returned, swept her skirts underneath her, and took a seat beside him. “Young men that age can be so shy. You have two polite nice young men that work for you. Do they go everywhere with you?”

“Yes, they do. My wife and my main ranch manager say I need them with me because of the things I get into.”

She laughed. “They know you well then.”

They danced again and then, sitting, he told her about Texas and why they had to leave.

“Oh my, you have an empire going for you now.”

“Yes, I'm told that. Did your husband leave you set up?”

She nodded. “I have three men that work for me on the ranch. We have two hundred mother cows, and growing. The Rafter A is my brand. Like your wife, I rode with him and we had lots of fun. I can run the ranch by myself—another reason I am so choosy. I don't want to be set back as a wife in the house and have him run the ranch.”

Chet nodded. “Let's dance. Dancing with you helps me forget how mad I am.”

“I bet your wife does that to you.”

“Yes, she does, and I treasure her for that very thing, as well as for other things. After I bought the big ranch, I headed home with JD's younger brother, Heck. He was about sixteen and had really straightened up. In a stage holdup, not fifteen miles south of Preskitt, some outlaws robbed us. I knew one of them, but in the dark he didn't recognize me. He and the other men took the boy as a hostage. I chased them down on a stage company horse, but they'd already killed the boy for no reason.”

“Oh, no.”

His hand in the center of her back, he straightened and they danced on. “Toughest day of my life, bar any others I ever had. Marge heard about it and she drove there in a buckboard to help me take his body back. His father was killed in the feud up in Kansas while taking our cattle to market. When Heck was killed, I was struck all over again by the entire situation.”

“Did that convince you to marry her?”

He shook his head. “I was grateful, but I still had ties in Texas. In the end, that lady couldn't leave Texas because her parents needed her. So I came back to Arizona, but I wasn't ready for a wife. I wanted to make a long camping trip to see more of the territory, and I was going to ask Marge to go along. My sister said that since Marge had been to finishing school, she wouldn't go with me. She was wrong, though. Marge agreed, without any hesitation, to go. My conscience bothered me about her being single and going, so we made that trip our honeymoon.”

“That was thoughtful. You are a wheeler-dealer, aren't you?”

“I guess you could call me that. Was your husband one?”

“Yes. When he died, he still had many irons in the fire that I had to settle. Some were good, some worth nothing. That was fine, only he could have made them all work.”

They danced until midnight when someone blew a trumpet and confetti fell from a high net onto the crowd. At that, he kissed her and wished her a Happy New Year.

She thanked him and they walked slowly back to the bench.

“Are you going home tonight?” he asked.

“Yes. I'd love to talk you into going home with me. I know you don't want to be invited by a Mexican woman to go home with her tonight. But I appreciated your stories. I was well entertained by a gracious man. If you are here for a few days, I want you to come to my ranch house and have a meal. Bring your men and Louise and I will feed you well, with no strings attached. I am so glad you kissed me. I think it will bring me good fortune in the coming year. Good night, Chet Byrnes.” Then she kissed him softly and they parted.

He told the boys he was going back to the hotel. Jesus said he'd go along. Chet didn't argue with him. They were his aides and they took things serious. He told Cole to stay if he wanted, but be careful.

When he and Jesus left the dance hall, they started down the hill in the cool night air. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw two horseback riders across some open lots riding parallel to them.

“You see them?” he asked in a stage whisper.

“You think they could be trouble?”

“I think so. If they try anything, get down and shoot back.” He slid his gun from its holster, and Jesus did the same.

“I can do that. They are acting suspicious.”

Chet caught his sleeve and motioned toward a nearby wagon. “Get around behind that empty wagon and we can watch them.”

A dog barked somewhere close to where the two silhouettes sat on horseback. Hard to make out what they were doing, but no doubt they were watching him and Jesus.

Then one shouted to the other, “
Vamoose
.” In a pounding of hooves, the riders were gone.

After they charged away into the night, Chet and Jesus holstered their guns. Chet knew they couldn't identify either man or their horses. More things to think about. He had little faith the coming meeting would prove much, but he wanted his high-priced lawyer from Santa Fe to arrive. Because of the holidays, he doubted the man could be there before the third.

Back at the hotel, Jesus asked if he should go back and see about Cole.

“Yes, but be careful. Cole may have plans. I think those men intended to shoot or scare us. Either way, I think we better have eyes in the back of our heads from now on.”

“Yes. I'll go warn him anyhow.”

“I'll see you in the morning.”

“Sure. If I can get Cole up.”

“You can both sleep in.”

Jesus shook his head. “No, not after tonight.”

“See you then, and be careful.”

Jesus waved that he would and left.

Chet still had hints of Mrs. Carmichael's perfume in his nose. What a lovely woman. Not for him, but she was nice and some man was missing a lot. She steered on the dance floor like Marge—amazing on her feet. Oh, well, time for some shut-eye. Morning wasn't far away.

He awoke about dawn. The hotel rooms weren't well heated and frost made a pattern on the windowpane. He didn't take long to get dressed. Out in the hall, he knocked on the boys' door.

Jesus opened it. “Cole slept in. I'll be right there.”

“Fine.”

When Jesus came out putting on his hat, he was grinning. In a low voice, he said, “He came in late and needs to sleep.”

Going down to breakfast, they both chuckled at Cole being so tired.

“Did you see anything else last night?”

Jesus shook his head.

Raines joined them for breakfast in the café. He had his head down, and Chet thought he acted nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers—busy glancing around. Finally, he spoke. “I have an offer you might not like—for a thousand dollars they will hand him over to you and nothing will be said.”

“Will his criminal record be wiped clean?” Chet asked.

“No. That costs another thousand.”

“I think we can get a new trial and his sentence set aside.”

“But that will cost you more money than their offer.”

“But it may straighten out this county court system and the sheriff.”

Raines shook his head. “Not in New Mexico.”

“We'll see. They've denied me access to JD. They've ignored my Marshal badge. They did the trial in Spanish and had no interpreter for him. The whole thing was a frame-up and the sheriff and deputies sold the horses for their own gain. I'm not biting on this buy-out offer. My lawyer is coming from Santa Fe.”

“Who is that?”

“Herman Thomas.”

Raines' eyes flew open. “He's real expensive.”

“I told you I was getting this straightened out. I'm not a lawyer, but I know a few things. And when I get done, the sheriff may have a new look at things. Perhaps from behind bars.”

Raines gave up. Chet could tell the man had collapsed after the cash offer was turned down. His mention that a high-powered lawyer was coming might shake some fear into all of them. The threat of expensive lawyers had its way of impressing people.

“The meeting is at noon tomorrow in Judge Penso's office. You don't need your men there.” He motioned toward Jesus.

“They go where I go.”

Raines shrugged. He left his half-eaten breakfast on the plate and hurried out the café's front door.

Their waitress shook her head. “He didn't pay for his meal. Is he coming back?”