Bisbee.
As I began the day I wrote down that I was starting a shift and then smiled when I saw Alex standing in the doorway of the sheriff’s office. “Well hey there.”
“Mornin’,” he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around my waist.
I hugged him tightly and kissed him. “Feel like wanderin’ over to Chezz for a coffee?”
“Trap door still broken?” he looked in the cell.
“Yep. Still can’t get it to close.” I walked outside with him and asked, “Shall we?”
We walked hand in hand over to he cafe and poured ourselves some coffee. When we were seated at the bar I said, “So now that we’ve solved the Will Braxton case... Now what?”
Alex sipped his coffee and shrugged. “I”m sure something will come up.”
“Well I hope so... Either that or I’ll have to start digging in the old files again,” I drank my coffee and nodded. “S’pose I could get paid for kissing you...” I winked, leaning over to kiss him.
“Now that sounds like a job worth doing,” he grinned and kissed me back.
“It’s a tough job but someone has to do it.”
“You’re awfully good at it.”
As I set the coffee on the counter I said, “I missed you last night...”
“I missed you too,” he smiled.
I slid a finger down the collar of his white buttoned shirt and said, “You look good today.”
“Thanks,” he grinned and kissed me again. “You always look good to me.”
We continued to kiss and then I heard movement outside. I waved to Nim, remembering that I was still on duty, and said, “Hey Nim!”
“Morning Trin,” she said, walking into the cafe.
“Hello Nim,” Alex greeted her.
“You two have met?” I smiled.
“Yes, last week or maybe the week before,” Alex nodded.
“Good day sir,” Nim greeted him.
“Was just checking to see if the bank doors needed any repairs.”
“Everything’s been deathly quiet,” I told her and then chuckled. “The uh... trap door and jail may need repairs.”
“Don’t think I have the tools for those, Trin,” Nim smiled.
“How have things been, Marshal?” I blushed a bit and asked, changing the subject. “Keeping busier than me I hope?”
“Been a bit slow. Served a couple warrants, that’s about it.”
“Wonder if there’ll be court this weekend...” I nodded.
“Only two cases on the docket.”
“Almost want to take a case just for the sake of doin’ something productive. Not that hanging out with my man ain’t productive...” I winked at Alex and he chuckled.
“Well, let me finish my rounds quick. You two have a wonderful morning,” Nim said then.
“Sure, Nim. Be safe. Good to see you,” I smiled at her.
“You as well,” Alex said and Nim waved as she headed out of the cafe.
I smiled and looked at Alex. “Nice to know we’ve got a marshal out and about again. If I ever need help I know he’ll come runnin’.”
“That is handy,” he nodded.
“Now where were we...?” I looked back at him and he smiled.
We continued to enjoy each other’s company and after a while I leaned back, looking in his eyes. “See... even with an interruption we can still have ourselves a good morning.”
“We certainly can,” he chuckled.
***
Black Diamond.
This evening I walked into Black Diamond and greeted Matt and Freja.
“May I have a word with you, Miss Freja?” Matt asked her.
“Matty, sure!” she said.
“I wanted to inform you that I received a telegram from Tucson... Seems that the government passed a law against the sale of opium, if it is not prescribed by physicians. I was asking Miss Libby if you all keep opiates under protection, specially the pharmacies.”
“Matty trying to make sure he maintains a connection?” Nim whispered to me.
I chuckled and said, “We got that trap door fixed, by the way.”
“Oh! I heard they were thinking about it...” Freja was telling Matt. “Well, since opium is so widely available, we really haven't... and since cocaine is readily available, there isn't much need.”
“Well,” Matt sighed. “We are a little town farther from the government.. but we need to be watchful.”
“Do you feel we should get a locked cabinet?”
“Here,” he handed her a piece of paper. “This is the telegram that I received.”
“Hey Nim, any word on what happened with Ali and Gabe?” I asked as I continued to listen to the others’ conversation.
“You know what this says to me? It says to me that prices will go up!” Freja said.
“Only know they left town,” Nim shook her head.
“And need to make sure that the opium that you receive for medicine is good and not one from those opium dens,” Matt said.
“That’s very sad... I suppose they think it will stop what they call ‘recreational use’. Well, our supplier has always gotten us very good quality... I imagine she will no longer be in business.”
“What it will do Miss Freja is increase crime, since now there will be a black market for it,” Nim told her.
“Yes, Nim, I think you’re right.”
“Depends, Miss Freja,” Matty nodded.
“And sadly enough, there are many addicts who will still need it,” Freja added.
“I know that we had an opium den in town.. but...” Matt said and then whispered something.
I looked between the two of them, not sure what they were saying, and then Freja said, “Well, they certainly focused on the clinic when they attacked.”
“The clinic was burned down, I did see that. Quite a sight,” I put in. “Just thankful that only one person was inside and was able to get out.”
“But.. right after, the Mayor and his family went... ‘poof’... disappeared...” Matt said.
“Strange, very strange,” Freja nodded and I started to realize the connection.
“Who knows if the Apache did not like the opium,” Matt shook his head.
“And it is all happening when this law was passed,” Freja pointed out.
“Awfully strange coincidences... Alex and I, we’ve been working on this other case... A cold case from 1883...” I said.
“Coincidence, don’t you think?” Matt nodded.
“We discovered that the guy who we were investigating was actually part of the Dead Rabbits gang,” I went on.
“So I heard today Alex is a Minister?” Nim looked at me.
“I started to realize the connections in methods and how everything sounded familiar with the actions of the Dead Rabbits around the time the clocks were stolen...” I went on. “Alex Torii... No, he’s not a minister.”
“I am bringing the detective to examine that house... make sure that there was not foul play,” Matt said.
“But the thing is... We came to Diamond to look into it, because we put it all together. Gabe, Ali, Serenity, Punk... They have to be all involved with this Dead Rabbits gang somehow.” I looked at Matt and said, “Matt, I already did, that’s what I’m getting to.”
“Well, sheriff, it looks like not only do we have to rebuild the clinic, we will need a new supplier for opium,” Freja said.
“Alex and I came to Diamond and looked in Ali and Gabe’s house and found it completely empty,” I said and Matt nodded for me to continue. “We thought it was suspicious so we asked Richie and Libby about it. They both said that Ali and Gabe had split, no reasons why.”
“Miss Freja.. sure need a reliable supplier..” Matt looked at her.
Freja nodded and said goodnight then ad I looked at Matt, “Matt, did you want to investigate the house?”
Ryker came over then and kissed Nim and I smiled, seeing him so happy. “Sheriff,” she looks at Matt then. “Perhaps we should investigate that house and let these two lovebirds reunite?”
“Very well... I have not enter the house since they left, Trin,” Matt nodded and went to look through the window.
“Alex and I found the door was unlocked. Alex did that too... We saw nothing in so we walked inside.”
We opened the door and walked into the living room and Matt looked around. “Seems clean...”
“Clean and empty,” I nodded.
He looked under the stairs and said, “What’s this?”
“What’s what?”
“Detective, look,” he pulled out a feather. “A Blackbird feather... and with dry blood from what it seems.”
I felt the hurt and betrayal being in the living room, remembering how much I’d been betrayed by Ali and Gabe since they were Dead Rabbits members. “No...” I shook my head, seeing the feather.
“Matt... When Alex and I were reading... The Dead Rabbits and the Blackbirds, they were basically the same gang. They would leave dead rabbits to show that they were close. Like what was happening after the clocks had been stolen on Allen Street.”
“Yes, Trin,” Matt nodded. “I thought you knew... they change the name from Dead Rabbits to blackbirds when they left New York...”
“A feather being left here.. Damn it, Matt... They were lying to us the whole time.”
“Will this be a message? And if so, what?”
“Could mean more to come. Until we figure out why they left, really why they left, we won’t know what will come next.”
He shook his head. “I sort of suspect some of their connections.. they kept the town clean...”
“Remember when we first started talking about the undertaker suspicions you had... And you wanted me to look into Serenity...”
“Indeed.. I remember.”
“Did I tell you about the night at Kate’s? The shootout where I hid under the table and then drew my gun in case I needed to, but Serenity was the only one other than me who didn’t get shot?”
“It may have been a planned hit,” he nodded.
“Remember how Serenity was with Punk when he stole my guns, because they didn’t want me to have them after showing it in Kate’s? Matt, Kris went in there to arrest someone, but didn’t say who. Then the gunfight broke out and Serenity and I were the only ones who got out unwounded.”
“I do not remember, perhaps you told me.. but I was not there. But now.. this is what we have and know. We have a possible opium connection with the Apache. We know that they were gone overnight.”
“So then I went to Bisbee and there was Serenity, watching the clinic from a distance... Punk came over and stole my guns. Cause they didn’t like that I’d unholstered.”
“We do not know if they were murdered, kidnapped or just fled the town afraid of something bad.”
“Yeah, tell me more about this opium thing. I’ve seen Apache riding through Bisbee a few times, thought it was strange. Maybe they were using the town as a pass to get to Black Diamond?”
“A well connected source informed me that the opium den what was hidden behind the tea place, was taken down to trade the opium with the Apache... That’s probably why the town was not attacked by them when Tombstone was attacked.”
Abby joined us in the house then and Matt whispered something to her and she whispered something back. I was getting a little tired of all of the whispering going on in front of me and looked between them expectantly.
“My wife has all my confidence, Trin.. I was telling her that I requested you to do an investigation on the black birds.. specifically Miss Serenity,” Matt smiled at me.
“Right,” I nodded.
“But with the Fitzsimmons gone... seems that the Blackbirds have lost their flock,” Matt said.
“And I was telling him that I thought you are one of the best around to do such a thing,” Abby nodded.
“But the important thing is... why did they disappear?” Matt asked.
“I appreciate that, Abby. Matt... Punk hasn’t been around lately either, has he?”
“Well it’s true Trin and everyone knows when Trin is on the case they better run.”
“Not in a while,” Matt shook his head.
“Maybe he’s wherever they are... Only remaining Blackbird/Dead Rabbit that I know of is Serenity, if we’re doing the math right.”
Abby looked between us and said, “Word has it on the streets that he was in town the other night, only a few saw him though.”
“Oh was he?” I looked to her.
“I found this under the stairs... detective Trin probably will make more sense about this finding,” Matt showed Abby the feather.
“There is Jade still too Trin, and she was in town the other night too,” Abby said.
“Jade? I had forgot about her... She...” I suddenly blinked, “Oh of course!!”
“Yes, he arrived late at night when most had gone home for the night,” Abby said about Punk.
“After the clocks were stolen from the tower I was getting these threatening letters... Telling me to back off... The last one... Jade had come up to the office and was eavesdropping... Came in to find out what the commotion was all about; Skyla, Liz and Richie were all there with me. Now it all makes sense! It’s because she was one of them too!”
“Did you know about the clocks, Abby?” Matt asked her ad she nodded.
“There’s not a doubt in my mind that the Black Birds and the Dead Rabbits are behind it,” I said definitively.
“Abby, stay here with Trin,” Matt said then as he looked out the window.
“‘Course, love. I’ll fill Trin in on what I know about the clocks.”
I closed the door after Matt left and turned back to Abby. “Abby... That phrase... ‘Let My People Go’...”
“That was Ali,” she nodded. “I was there that night.”
“The Dead Rabbits were sort of from this Irish Catholic gang of sorts back in the day... That’s what made me realize it was all them... They kept shouting it when they were in jail. What could this feather mean though?”
“That would be their calling card.”
“Like the rabbits were the calling card for the Dead Rabbits gang... So did Ali and Gabe leave it for us to find, or did someone else in their gang leave it?”
“Not many knew of Ali and Gabe’s involvement with the Birds/Rabbits.”
“Threatening that this isn’t the end?”
“Well that is a thought Trin, but it may have been left by them as a message to the other birds to find.”
“Another good thought,” I nodded. “All possibilities... We won’t know until more things happen in days to come. And there’s no way to predict what that’ll be.”
“Exactly, but I may know where the clocks went and who put them there.”
“I know exactly where the clocks are... They’re in Ghenna, at Serenity’s shop.”
“No they are in two guns in the first building by the tracks... I saw Ali put them there that night.”
“See... I wandered over there with this native guy who was poking around too... We found the clocks in Ghenna and asked TJ and the others about it. Lot threatened to kidnap me if I didn’t get out of there... But... Then they must have moved them from Ghenna.”
“Oh then they moved them,” Abby’s eyes widened.
“Coulda been prototypes too...” I suggested.
“Ali and Serenity were always scheming something,” Abby shook her head.
“Thing was though... I told Skyla about it and we didn’t have enough manpower. Remember... when that bandana-covered Mexican-speaking group came into town? They dragged that one clock into the middle of the street... Said they’d give it to us if we gave them money?”
“I sure do,” Abby nodded. “But I’m not sure it was anyone other than the birds in disguise. The Dead Rabbits always worked under disguise.”
“Yes I remember and then a little while later they left and the birds showed up.”
“Right,” I nodded. “Was a little too suspicious.”
“And they would get in disguise to be on jury’s too,” Abby nodded.
“Yep. Punk did that all the time. Remember... when the Apache kid was kidnapped and they were looking for that Shaane T guy? Was Punk, under disguise as a soldier.”
“Ali and Serenity slipped one night and said hello to me one time when in disguise so I had an idea of their disguises. Oh I remember punk dressing up as Mr. Tye one night with the clothes Tye kept at the hotel.”
“Yep. Remember when he acted as Tye and then shot um... who was it...”
“Oh goodness, I don’t remember who was shot, but I think it was a lawman.”
“Right! The old retired marshal!”
“Yes!”
“And he impersonated an old man... He used that old man look a lot.”
“Yes he did,” she nodded. “But... that one specific day... Day after he shot me down... He left a dead rabbit on the door of the sheriff’s office for me.”
“Yes the gang was supposed to be the dead rabbits and not the black birds.”
“It’s the same gang, Abby. The Dead Rabbits, they did the dirty work for the higher up guys. The Blackbirds. The Blackbirds would keep a nice persona image and be all friendly, but then get the Dead Rabbits to do the violent stuff.”
“Yes, but that is not how the whole thing was supposed to go, I was at the meeting where it was being formed.”
“Oh I see... Why were you at that meeting?” I asked, suddenly suspicious.
“Well I was dating Tj at the time and well he was supposed to be one of the members of them,” she smiled.
“He was?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Yes,” she nodded.
“What happened that made him not join then?”
“At that meeting was..Tj, Me, Punk, Gabe, Ali, Serenity, Ace, and Al,” she stopped to think and then said, “I think that’s it.”
“Jade... Al was the one who told me about the Dead Rabbits gang... But I didn’t put together then who were all involved. Looking back now I should have... It’s all so obvious now.”
“No, Jade was not there, but Tj did join up and was a roach guard for a while then he left them and they tormented him for some time.”
“Right... I imagine they would.”
“Miss Libby we need you!” Bree shouted from outside.
“Sounds like they’re lookin’ for a doctor out there. I think we’re safest in here.”
“Oh yes....ohh and BB is part of them too!”
“Of course,” I sighed. “I’ve been trying to chase BB for months... She kept alluding us in Black Diamond or Ghenna.”
“She is a slick and crazy one.”
“I had thought she was maybe with the Wild Bunch... Or Mavericks...” I remembered her being there when Harm shot down Sunset.
“She is with the birds,” Abby shook her head.
“That makes more sense now,” I nodded. “Abby, do you mind if I head back to Bisbee? I’m sure there’s a trail or... something. Will you be okay?”
“Oh yes, please go follow any trail you can find and I will finish filling you in later. I will be fine. I’m going to look around here some more.”
“Okay great. I’ll find you soon then,” I went to give her a hug and then slipped out the back way out of town.
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