Chapter 14
Rachel watched the man sitting at a table in the Hotel's saloon. They had been waiting for hours for the table next to the man to be freed from it's earlier occupants. "Do I have to", she whimpered in Cody's direction, as the two men rose and left the table free.
Cody was keeping an eye on the two boys on the top of the stairs. "It's our only chance to get into his room and search it, you know that, we have to have a way to stall him if he suddenly decides to excuse himself. And you're our only chance" Cody told her.
"Teaspoon an' me's gonna keep an eye on you, every step of the way" he reassured her casting an eye in Teaspoons direction. He was sitting in the other end of the saloon, with a clear view of the man's table. Keeping sure the man wouldn't notice him.
"Go on!" he urged her "and don't forget the script"
Rachel sighed and put on her sad face, determined to do her best. Even though she was hating having to do it. She started for the empty table next to the man's. Hiding her face in her hand she was pretending to cry. Sinking down on a chair in plain view of the victim of her fraud, she whimpered and started to cry heavily, leaning her face into her hands. Even a stonecold killer should be moved by this, she thought to herself. And exactly as they had thought, the man couldn't see a beautiful woman cry her heart out without wondering why.
"Ma'am" he started to rise from his chair and come over to her. "Ma'am what's a matter?" he asked her again. Rachel gave him a tear-filled gaze and the man sat down at her table, looking for a handkerchief in his pocket. Leaning towards her he offered it to her.
Rachel took it with a faint smile and mumbled "Thank you, sir!" She had him!
Cody gave a sign to the boys on the stairways and moved himself in a better position to have a view of both the Saloon and the boys breaking an entrance.
Noah and Jimmy quickly moved toward the locked door in the dark hallway. Noah was fumbling with a piece of metal thread, shaking in his effort to move as quickly as possible. Jimmy stood with his back against him, shielding the view of Noah from anybody that came up from the Saloon.
The piano had started playing loudly downstairs and Jimmy felt save to growl softly at his friend "I thought you said you was an expert?"
Noah grunted, struggling to get the door open, he heard a soft click and held his breath, moving the handle, he felt the door slide open. "Get in" he prompted Jimmy.
Both boys slid through the door, closing it behind them. "Keep watch, Jimmy" Noah told him "God knows what this one will do if he finds us in his room"
"Specially when he finds out us being deputies" Jimmy remarked realizing the absurdity of the situation.
Noah was looking around the room, having to rely on the dim light from outside made the task almost impossible. Having gone through the man's luggage without finding anything other than clothes he had to look elsewhere. Kneeling down he let his hand wander under the bed. His hand touched cloth. Examining it closer he found it to be a dress.
"What would a man like this do with a dress, Jimmy? he whispered in surprise over what he had found.
"A dress?"
"I think so"
"Give it to me?" Jimmy was holding out his hand reaching for the dress Noah had found. The other hand held his gun, steadily pointed towards the door.
Jimmy let his eyes wander over the dress in the darkness. It reminded him of something, then it hit him. "It's Natalie's dress, the one she had one the day they left. I recognize the texture"
"What?"
"I'm tellin' you, I outta remember."
"She's been here then? What the hell is goin' on Jimmy?" Noah couldn't make out what her dress was doin here, when the girl was nowhere to be found.
"I dunno, but I'm takin' this dress with me. Maybe it'll tell us something more."
Rachel was filling the man in front of her up with the most bold faced lie she ever told anybody.
"He promised to marry me" she sobbed into the man's handkerchief. "After my father died and left me the mine, he contacted me and told me he knew my father and he had promised him to take care of me. I can't work the mine myself."
"Poor woman, and he made you come all the way out here from Sweetwater? And you've never seen the man?"
"The mine's west of here, he wrote me and thought it would be better to live out her, closer to the mine. All I had to do was send him the money to get it started again." She sobbed "And when I get here, they tell me nobody of that name checked in to the hotel. And he promised to be here!"
"Ma'am excuse me for saying this, but I think he fooled you. Pardon me ma'am but allow me to buy you a drink, to calm yourself down."
"No sir, I didn't send him all the money, I still have a considerable sum left, just in case."
The last remark made the man's ear perk. And Rachel was sure he was going to pay attention to her a while longer. Hopefully the boys had been as lucky.
"There's nothing else here, Jimmy!" Noah had gone through the room thoroughly, not finding anything.
"There has to be something Noah! Jimmy was getting desperate. They couldn't just walk out with a dress and nothing else. They had to find something to point them in the right direction.
"Hold on Jimmy" Noah was going through the man's bag once more. His fingers had touched something under the lining in the leather valise. "There's some papers here."
"Take'em out and lets get goin'"
"And leave Rachel out to dry? Who is he gonna suspect if he finds out the papers are missing." Noah rebutted.
"Not her, you fool, she's sitting right next to him while this is happening!" Jimmy replied.
"Don't sell him short, Jimmy, we have no idea what this man is all about."
"What'ya thinkin' of doin' then, leavin' them behind, or reading them in the dark?"
Noah finally pulled the papers out, "OK Jimmy, we'll do it your way. I hope it works out to everybody's benefit."
"Except Benjamin Shearer's" Jimmy remarked "Are you done?"
Noah nodded, the papers folded in his hands. "Let's get out of here!"
Cody watched his friends get out of the room. Noah nodding at him. As they went upstairs Cody turned his gaze at Teaspoon, slowly lifting his brim. As a cue for Teaspoon to take action.
Teaspoon rose from his table, praying that he hadn't been spotted by Benjamin Shearer earlier. He made his way to their table.
Stopping at Rachel's chair he bent in over her and cleared his throat in a nervous manner. "Ma'am. do you happen to know where to find a woman called Emma Cain? Damned, he thought to himself, he had forgotten the name they'd decided to use.
Rachel didn't flinch though. Raising her tear-filled eyes to Teaspoon she sobbed, "That's me sir, and who might you be?"
Teaspoon made a face of sheer surprise, "Why Ma'am you're even more beautiful than your father described you! I'm Mr. William Thompkins, ma'am. I'm so awfully sorry for my delay, some events prohibited me to fulfill my promise to meet you here, yesterday. Ma'am don't cry. A beautiful lady like should not be crying."
Rachel stifled a giggle, Teaspoon was doing the perfect act of a gentleman. She smiled at the raggedy man and threw a glance in Benjamins Shearer's direction who had turned to Teaspoon, watching the man with sheer disgust.
"Oh Mr. Thompkin's" she started, rising for the table, it was time to get out now.
"It's Will" Teaspoon tapped her arm gently. "I should take you to your room so you can get some rest, Ma'am. Tomorrow will be a long day!" Taking her arm Teaspoon steered her towards the stairs. Rachel turned to Benjamin Shearer, she would like to part with him on a good foot, just in case.
"Goodnight sir, and thank you for your kindness. It seems like all worked out for the better in the end. I'm begging for your forgiveness if I've inconvenienced you in any way!" she made kind of a curtsey to the man and turned to Teaspoon. She wanted to get out of here fast.
Behind her she heard the man shout after her "Ma'am pardon me for saying this, but you could have done so much better than an old timer like that."
Rachel threw a quick glance at Teaspoon as they made their way up the stairs. He answered her glance and said in a low voice "I outta shoot him for that last remark! Old timer, huh!"
"Let's see what the boys' got!"she was dragging him upstairs to Jimmy's and Noah's room.
As they entered they found Jimmy, Noah and Cody staring down at a dress on the bed. Rachel made her way to the boys and stopped in horror as she realized what they were looking at. It was the dress Natalie had been wearing the day she and Kid left the station. Now it's front was covered with dried blood. A sickening feeling arouse in her as she took the dress in her hands and examined it. She couldn't find any indication of how the blood got there. The dress was dirty and stinking but there was no holes to indicate a shotgun wound or knife going through it. Something with the placement of the blood bothered her too. It was like it had spurted right into her lap. Turning to the boys she spoke "I don't think it's her blood!"
Like waking out of a torpor they all turned to her. Noah made a questioning face and she explained why she had come to that conclusion.
Jimmy hesitantly touched the dress. "You mean she might have killed somebody?"
Rachel shook her head, "Jimmy there's no way of knowing how the blood got there."
Jimmy's eyes were fixed on the stains. "It might be the Kid's or Lou's blood" he spoke in a thickening voice.
Rachel shrugged and her eyes went to Teaspoon.
Teaspoon laid a hand on Jimmy's shoulder "Son, we just don't know. Dont go jumping to conclusions! We need to find out more."
Noah suddenly remembered the papers he had been clutching in his hand ever since they returned from their mission. He took the paper and opened it. "There's something else" he started with his eyes nailed to the document as he unfolded it.
Cody ripped it out of Noah's hands to take a better look, impatient as ever. Noah threw him a disgusted glance. Cody was unfolding the last piece of the paper. Laying in down on the table in front of him, he studied the document intensely. The others watching him with anticipation. Finally he turned his eyes from the document and spoke "I think there's somewhere we need to get!"
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