September 12, 1899

Bisbee. 

This morning as I sat in front of Chezz and looked up when Alex came riding over. “Well hey there,” I smiled and stood. 

“Hi Trin. It is good to see you.” 

“Always good to see you,” I hugged him tightly and then leaned back. “I had an interesting night last night.”

“Oh yeah?” he raised an eyebrow. 

“Mmhmm. Got me some intel before the war started. Wanna hear?”

“Yes. I was going to ask how the investigation was going.”

“How about a change of scenery?”

“Sure,” he grinned and I led the way to my house and went upstairs to the living room. 

“Welcome to my home.”

“Very nice place,” he looked around and smiled. 

I cuddled up against him next to the couch and said, “Thought this might be more relaxing... I don't need to be on duty all the time.” 

Alex wrapped his arms around me and said, “This is very nice.” 

“Thought you might like it... So... the investigation,” I changed gears as I got more comfortable. 

“Yes, how’s that going?” 

“I walked out to Black Diamond yesterday afternoon... Thought I would see what my law friends over there could tell me. They were under the impression it wouldn't matter whether or not Vito offered himself up. There would be war anyway. So I figured okay, doesn't really matter what I find out... even if I located him it would still happen. So I went into town and tried to figure out what to do... See... I have Apache in my blood, four generations back. I wasn't about to fight my own people but I couldn't necessarily fight against my employers either.”

“Understandable. Better to try and avoid war.”

“So I figured I would do what I do best and try to get the story behind what really triggered this. I talked with some friends at the Oriental and one of them told me about his previous scuffles with Vito. I got a bit of intel on what kind of person he is... and realized that he wouldn't do something like kill the Apache Chief's wife for no reason.”

“You think he had reason, or it was someone else?”

“Well... I walked through town as they were setting up barracades and whatnot. I saw a soldier standing behind a fence over by the Birdcage Theatre so I went to him and asked if he knew where I could find this Vito person... Once I told him I was a detective, he was more willing to talk to me and took me to the back room in Annie's where he identified himself as Vito.”

“Wow,” he raised his eyebrows. 

“We talked about what was happening and he said that he and a soldier had been backed up against the wall. His friend had been shot and he had shot the Chief's wife in self defense. He said that the Apache had been attacking the fort. So we talked about how nothing would stop the Apache from starting this war... but at least now I would be able to share the real story behind what happened and his name wouldn't be so tarnished.”

“That's good. It sounds like he was in a bad situation.”

“I have no idea how it turned out last night... Haven't been able to talk to anyone yet. I'm just glad I was able to avoid being put in a difficult situation.” 

“I’d be curious to know.” 

“Yeah, I am,” I nodded. “Didn't really want to wander out by myself so much though. I will tell you though, Alex...”

“I'd be happy to accompany you... Yes?” 

“It was so good to investigate again like that... Hunting down the truth so that people's reputations would be spared... It felt good.” 

“You're a good deputy,” he smiled. 

“Well, then I was acting as detective,” I chuckled. 

“A good detective, then,” he winked. 

I smiled and leaned back against him, resting my head on his shoulder. “What did you do last night?”

“I rode out into the desert and found a good place to sit and look at the sky.”

“Did some thinkin’, hmm?”

“Yeah, seem to have a lot of thoughts going on right now.”

I slid a hand up and down his leg and asked, “Need a sounding board?”

“I’m not sure I should tell you what I was thinking about,” he winked. 

“Well you know... that doesn’t make me any less curious,” I chuckled. 

He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss. “Curiosity killed the cat.”

“I’ll risk it,” I kissed him back and he laughed. 

“I’ve been thinking a lot about how I ended up here and where the future may take me.”

I traced a finger around his knee as I listened. “You know... all that thinking about the future might make you forget to enjoy the moments in the present...”

“I couldn’t be enjoying myself anymore than I am right now.”

“I feel the same way,” I smiled and kissed him again. 

“I’ve been wandering the country for several years now. I think it’s time to stop wandering.”

“I think you are right, hon. You know what’s really rare for me?”

“What?” he looked at me with curiosity. 

“Having a man want to spend time with me four days in a row... Consistently...” I said and he laughed at that. “It’s true. Most men would spend an hour or two with me, then I wouldn’t hear from them for days.”

“Well, it’s a rare thing for me to want to spend time with anyone. I usually prefer the company of my horse.”

“We should go out riding sometime...”

“That would be nice.” 

“I could show you the area..”

“I’d like that. Get my bearings around here some.”

“There are a few nice places I want to show you... Want to go for a bit of a ride now?”

“Sure, that would be nice. Maybe not as nice as holding you, but I can hopefully do that again sometime.”

“You will, darling, I’m sure of it.”

He smiled wider and I got a better idea. Turning around, I pinned him to the couch and kissed him firmly. He touched my cheek and pushed my hair back as we deepened the kiss and it wasn’t long before we forgot all about the horses. 

***

Tombstone. 

This afternoon I walked into town and saw a crowd in front of the clinic. The building was burned down and the windows had been boarded up. “What the...”

“Howdy Trin. Did you miss the fire last night?” Sadie asked me as the others greeted me. 

“Apparently so,” I nodded. “Someone want to fill me in?”

“Apache burned it down around us... Luckily those of us inside escaped through the back door. It collapsed later in the evening and is still smouldering.” 

“Wow... While people were being healed after the war?”

“Actually, we were struck first. I think ti keep us from healing,” Sadie explained. “Myself and several others were inside. mostly docs, but some others as well. We ended up healing at the fire house with what supplies we had in our bags.” 

“Wow..” I shook my head in awe at all I was hearing. 

“Don’t get too close to that debris.. it could still collapse further,” Sadie warned. “Kris was hit during the collapse last night.” 

“Geez... Going to walk down the street a bit.” 

I walked down the street towards the Epitath where I saw Paisley sitting down. I sat down beside her and said, “Hey Paisley... I see they burned down the clinic.” 

“Yes, it is a shame.” 

“Sadie said it might be ‘cause they were stopping ya’ll from being able to heal last night?”

“I heard that as well. They targeted medics.” 

“How about other towns, were they spared?” I shook my head. 

“I am not sure. I have not wandered. I have been busy helping folks at the stage.” 

“Bisbee seemed fine last night but I wasn’t sure about Black Diamond.”

“I got off the stage and they decided to start talking on Cole so I wandered here.” 

“So last night got violent...” I nodded. 

“Yes, from what I heard. Tony and I had an appointment so we left before Martial law hit. Returned after.” 

“Yeah I left the area too... Didn’t want to get caught up in it.”

“Saw the destruction.” 

“Was the clinic the only damage?” I asked. 

“Miss Ivy wanted Tony to be the hero.” 

“Oh?” 

“Yes... Wanted him to go to the Apache.” 

Bubba walked over and I waved to him, “Hey there Deputy.”

“Hello Trin. Long time no see.” 

“Good to see you again.”

“Has been a while. Where you been hiding?” Paisley asked. 

“Been on duty in Bisbee quite a bit, keeping things quiet over there,” I said and then looked Bubba up and down. “You survived last night too, I see.” 

“Yeah. I’ve been sleeping. I don’t get involved in this war.” 

“See the clinic yet?”

“Yeah I saw it,” he nodded. 

“Please forgive me... another stage,” Paisley looked at her pocket watch and then walked away. 

“Sure Paisley,” I nodded to her, then looked back at Bubba. “Reckon it was done so they were forced to heal in the firehouse, or so I was told. Haven’t heard about anything else that happened last night yet though.”

“Me neither, and I’m not planning to get involved in it. I like the natives so I won’t arrest them.” 

“I’ll investigate the story before and after but I ain’t gonna fight against my own, on either side. Was thinking of going up to the fort to see what I could find out.”

“I would agree with you about that. Natives seem to be a bit scared when they see me.. But I just ignore it and they seem to calm down a bit.” 

“If we give them the attention they want, they’ll keep doing it,” I nodded. 

“Well, we can’t ignore them either.” 

“I know...” I sighed. “What are we supposed to do though? Even if we gave them the man they wanted, they would have attacked.”

“And probably kill the man to, which would get us involved into murder.” 

“Even though Vito was acting out of self defense. He told me that he and the other soldier were back up against the wall. The other soldier had been shot, he had no choice but to defend himself and the bullet hit Aleaya.”

“It was the soldiers? I didn’t even know that...” 

“The fort had been under attack, Bubba...”

“Not much soldiers to attack there,” he laughed. 

“They were defending their own. The Apache were attacking them. Granted, I heard also that Vito and someone else were goin’ up to attack the Apache village but I ain’t sure how much I believe that 

source.”

“Well, they shouldn’t. Stuff will only get worse.” 

“A lot of these stories ain’t lining up, Bubba. I plan to make sense of it. Gonna wander over to the fort. Wish me luck.”

“I will. If anything goes wrong, just yell.” 

“Will do,” I nodded and headed towards the fort. 

I knocked on the big front door and called out, “Hello? Is anyone there? It’s Detective Trin!” There was no answer though, so I headed back to town. The group was still standing in front of the clinic and I asked, “Jess, Libby, you girls weren’t hurt last night were you?”

“I wasn’t, no ma’am,” Libby shook her head. 

I looked at Ali and asked, “Was everything in Black Diamond okay?”

“Everything is fine in Diamond far as we know,” she nodded. 

“So this was the only damage?” I asked, nodding to the clinic. 

“There were some other buildings set on fire, but they were able to be put out fast enough that mostly only doors and such got damaged,” Libby answered. 

“Which ones, Libby?” 

“Bank, courthouse... the jail... that I know of... could be more...” 

“Typical targets then,” I nodded. 

“I think the bank’s doors are still standin’ open... don’t know if they can’t be fixed or not,” she said. 

I looked over at Kris and said, “Good to see you survived bein’ caught in the rubble.”

“Should have burnt down the sheriff’s office law don’t care none about anyway seeing as the sign is still gone missing,” Ali said bitterly. 

“No investigations been done on the missing sign?” I asked Bubba but he seemed lost in thought. 

“You’re law here, don’t you know?” Ali shrugged. 

“Been missing for over a month, least when I noticed it gone, may have been longer,” Gabe laughed. 

Libby gasped then and I looked over asking, “Something wrong, Libby?”

“OH... Oh no... I just... uh... remembered something I forgot to do,” she answered. 

“I say if they’ve been investigating it, they’ve been doing their usual amazing job doing so. Just like with the clocks,” Gabe said. 

I looked at him and said, “I told Skyla where the damn clocks were. We didn’t have enough manpower to do anything about it then.”

“Poor excuse Ma’am,” he looked at me. 

“And no one’s informed me about the sign,” I added. 

“They clocks still gone and I haven’t heard they found out who took them,” Ali said. “Whatever happened to the folks that brought the one clock back to town that day? Nothin’!” 

I muttered something about Cletis saying that the clock case had been closed and looked over, “Kris? Anything you want to contribute here? You’re local law... I’m just a deputy over in Bisbee.”

“Right now I’m more concerned with anyone who saw which Apache set the fire that destroyed the doc’s office,” he said. “And getting a warrant for arson.” 

“And if anyone tells me anything as a detective I gotta pry it out of ‘em,” I said. 

“He have something meaningful to contribute? Surely you jest?” Gabe chuckled. 

“You have jurisdiction here, don’t you Trin?” Ali asked me. 

“No ma’am. Not unless I’m deputized in Allen Street, right Kris?” 

“Right, but the Tombstone marshal and sheriff have jurisdiction in Bisbee if needed,” Kris nodded. 

“As I thought.” 

“Has it been changed recently?” Ali asked. 

“That’s how I was told it was, and Kris just confirmed it. If they want to fill me in as a detective, I can help over here. Otherwise, my only power lies in Bisbee,” I looked at her. 

“Ansar told me not long ago that law is for both Tombstone and Bisbee. I had thought the same as you,” she said. 

“As Kris just stated it though... that’s how I understood it. Reckon I’m going to head home. Ya’ll know where to find me,” I said then and headed back to Bisbee but stopped in the Pinkerton office on the way. I didn’t want to get into turf wars with them if she was going to continue push my buttons when Kris had already explained the answer for her. I checked on things in the files and then headed home for the evening.