Black Diamond.
I hobbled over to Aly’s place with my crutch under my arm, expecting Aly to answer. Alex opened the door and smiled when he saw me but then scowled at the crutch. “Hey what happened to you?”
“I have to stop asking to be deputized.”
“Got shot again?” he shook his head.
“Can I come in and sit?” I nodded to the door.
“Yeah of course!” he said and led the way inside. “Have a seat, make yourself comfortable.” I threw the crutch angrily on the floor and sat on the couch as he asked, “Need me to take a look at that?”
“Yeah... Not sure how good a job Jess did. Took about two hours to take the damn bullets out. They were close together, she said. Okay, maybe an hour,” I shifted on the couch.
“Hmmm... that must have hurt,” Alex took out his doctor’s bag and slipped on his glasses.
“We got shot in Tombstone... transferred to Goldfield ‘cause of the dust storm,” I told him.
He used a pair of scissors and snipped the bloodied bandage off, tossing it aside. “How’s the pain level?” he asked as he looked up at me.
“Like hell,” I muttered.
“Want something for it?”
“Whiskey,” I winked.
Alex grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the counter and poured me a glass. “Here, drink up.”
I took the whiskey and poured it back. “You’re an angel.”
He washed his hands in the sink and then sat back down on the couch beside me. “Want to tell me what happened while I’m doing this?”
“Well speaking of angels.... I was in town and Javier called over to me. He was messing with me and being an idiot. I didn’t know his name till I was in the clinic... Anyway...” I said as he soaked a clean rag with whiskey and started to clean the wound, wiping away dried blood.
“Oh yes, Javier. I met him yesterday.”
“He was all ‘I robbed the bank yesterday’ and I was like ‘why don’t you tell a deputy then?’ So I called for Angel who I’d just talked to about Starling being returned to her husband safely...”
Alex examined the stitches closely and said, “Hmmm, they look a little crooked but they’ll do. Probably better to leave them in.”
“Anyway... Angel comes out to arrest him and he of course resists so she of course gets out her guns and he of course shoots her. Meanwhile I went into the saloon cause there’s nothing I can do until someone deputizes me in that situation and I rather would have not gotten shot... Well Javier comes into the saloon after me and tells me to take out my gun and fight him. Cause I was a snitch, he said.”
Alex nodded and took out a salve, daubing it over the stitched areas. “They look a little red. We’ll have to watch them closely and keep them very clean to make sure infection doesn’t settle in.”
“Well...” I nodded to him and went on. “I ran outside and saw Angel had been shot so I went over to her to get her to deputize me. Wasn’t even a minute later when I drew my guns to Javier and he shot me down in the leg like he promised he’d do in the saloon.”
Alex took a roll of fresh bandages and rewrapped the wound, carefully winding it around her thigh and tying it off. “You’ve got a dangerous job.”
“So we went to the clinic and waited for a doc... Took forever for them to get there... Then Garth came in and was all in Angel’s face. Think I saw him pull out a sword and talk about amputating her arm but Matt kicked him out of there. But then the dust rolled in so we got transferred to Goldfield’s little army tent of a clinic where Lilly and Jess continued to work on us.”
“Oh that’s just what you need when you’re wounded, someone threatening to amputate.”
“Finally after an hour of that... I was able to get home. Only bright spot is I think Matt and I are friends again,” I remembered asking Matt if we were okay and he insisted that things were fine, he had just been busy.
“Oh that’s good. You’re all set. I’ll want to look at it again tomorrow.”
“Yeah... I really wished you were there last night.”
“I wish I had been too. You want some coffee with that whiskey?”
“Yeah sure... Might use the cane instead of the crutch,” I tried to stand and winced at the pain.
“Use what helps you walk best,” he suggested. “Let’s head over to the cafe. Sugar’s making breakfast.”
We walked into the cafe and joined Ger and Sugar there. We met a woman named Aeryne who seemed interested in me being a detective. Alex joked that I got shot on a monthly basis and I pointed out that I hadn’t been shot for a whole month. We talked about what happened last night and I looked to Ger, remembering I hadn’t talked to him yet.
Ger speaking of... I have some information on the town hall fire but no evidence as of yet.”
“Really, good.”
“I talked to Angel about it last week... Remember the bank got set on fire the same night? I know Rikki set the bank fire... Mark was yelling at her to put it out and chasing after her. I was in town and helped put it out... Well Angel told me that at the dance in Tombstone, Rikki was sayin’ that the Diamond law was tryin’ to pin the bank and town hall fires on her... But she said she didn’t do either fire. But Angel had never brought up either fire in the conversation. It
“Now all you have to do is prove it...” Ger nodded.
“Exactly... The continuing problem. The fire means no prints..” I looked between my two ex-partners then turned to Sugar. “Hey Sugar... You remember a while back Alex and I were investigating what happened to that past mayor... Cym? I met Cym’s ex-husband,” I smiled. “Hoping he can fill in some holes and maybe we can get a eight-month case solved.”
“Well that’s good.”
“Mmhmm.”
“It sounds like there is quite a bit of crime here for such a small town,” Aeryne pointed out.
“Was...most of the cases are old,” Ger said.
Pet walked in carrying a golf bag and we talked about how she’d been out golfing. Alex and I joked about our golf games in the past and she told us about the course out in the canyon. We continued to talk and enjoy the breakfast that Sugar had made for us. Pet and Sugar started talking about an article for the paper and Sugar mentioned that there would be lunches at the Cantina sometimes too.
Ger got up to get some work done and I looked over at him, “Oh Ger... We need to talk about Ben sometime.”
“Hobble over to your office and we can.”
“Now?”
“Why not? You know me, hate paperwork anyways.”
I stood and reached for my crutch as we said goodbye to the others and headed for my office. We sat down at the table in the Pinkerton office and got comfortable.
“This brings back memories,” Ger looked at his empty desk.
“Don’t it?” I looked around. “So I know how much you like Ben...”
“But..”
“He works for a man known as the kissing bandit. A man that I worked a case on a while back. He keeps making me uncomfortable and telling me that I’m going to be the next victim and that he’ll be here sometime in June.”
“This month.”
“The bandit goes up to new women and kisses them, then robs them.”
“Who is this Kissing Bandit and what does he do? But you’re not new.”
“I have a fairly descent suspicion on who he is but again, no proof, and some stories are miscoroborated. Well.. before the bandit disappeared last time he was starting to go after old residents,” I handed him the timeline.
“Well, you’re not exactly old either Trin,” Ger chuckled and took the timeline.
“Still... Ben works for him. He said he does deliveries and whatnot for him. I’m also fairly certain he set the Benson sheriff’s office on fire, but again... can’t prove it.”
“Are the deliveries up and up?”
“I just told you all I know. Ben’s not exactly... forthcoming with information.”
“Unless he is drunk...”
“I was lucky enough to get that much out of him. And he was very sober and determined to make my life hell. I’m just telling you all this because I want you to be careful around him and tell me if you see anything suspicious.”
“I got an idea.... He played a drinking game at the Stock exchange with Trevor and Angel yesterday. The guy who shot you...”
“Javier...”
“Yeah, him. If you could get Angel to get him to play again, and you were nearby...”
“To what end? We already have Javier on two counts of shooting without killing... one being shooting law. I’m trying to talk about Ben, not Javier....” I looked at him, enoughed enough with Jav.
“No, Ben.”
“Ben was hanging out with Javier? Like when I came up to them yesterday?”
“Ben played with Javier and Angel and got stinking drunk.”
“Ohh. Sorry, must be the meds,” I shook my head at myself.
“Don’t worry about it, I am used to it with you,” he chuckled.
I nudged him under the table and swore. “Damn it, Jav. If I see that guy again...”
“Focus Trin...Ben first.”
“You think I should get Ben drunk and he’ll talk?”
“Anyway..talk to Angel and see if that will work for ya. Wouldn’t hurt to try.”
“It’s worked in the past... At any rate we need to keep our eyes out. If I can charge that bandit with robbery...”
“I’ll keep mine in, but open,” he winked.
“Doubt I could get it for all 33 counts of robbery... “But one would be satisfaction enough for figuring out who he is and solving the case.”
“Yes. What now?”
“How do I solve the town hall fire? Prints are out... no witnesses that I’ve heard of...”
“Listening in saloons... asking other lawmen if something similar has happened in their towns. Ask Rikki if she knows anything that might help....let her know you are looking into it, then watch her. She might slip up.”
“Other lawmen in towns... That might be a problem.”
“Thought you worked with them.”
“Only ones really around in Tombstone are Angel and Matt in the evenings... Benson is Mike but he’s often with Stormy... Pearce is um... Tully I think? Not even sure... And Goldfield I have no idea... and then Diamond... Aly who’s hardly in town during the day and Mark who is in town once in a blue moon, and Stormy... when she’s not with Mike. I s’pose there’s the rangers and marshals too... Angeles, Kris... Suzy... I missing anyone? Oh, I guess Dave’s in Tombstone occasionally too... Dave Dyclea or whatever.”
“There are a couple of new rangers I think...”
“Are there? Angel mentioned someone named Shen..”
“Mark....Stormy’s brother, our blacksmith.”
“Mark is a ranger now?? I thought he was our deputy?”
“Slow down. That was what I was asking...he is our deputy?”
“I thought so.”
“Stormy’s brother.”
“With Stormy and Aly. Mark Grey.”
“Okay, we are on the same page now....” he laughed.
“It takes us a bit but we get there,” I chuckled. “Some girl named Illy was applying to be a deputy in Tombstone yesterday. Should see the giant spear that was in front of the office there.”
“Why not try and get her back here? I have been trying to get Angel here as a prosecutor.”
“I’m not gonna start stealing law from other towns though. If they wanna work in Tombstone that’s where they wanna work.”
“But she won’t come....”
“Guess I should find a saloon to plop down in and eavesdrop.”
“Keep your ears open for dances and such.”
“Thanks for this Ger... it’s hard not having a sounding board sometimes but between you and Alex I do okay.”
“No problem, always better to talk things through.”
“Mmhmm. Stay safe out there, Ger,” I smiled and headed outside.
***
A few hours later I hobbled out of the apartment after a short rest and smiled when I saw Joe walk into town. He walked over to me and I leaned against my crutch. “Hey...”
“Well looks like someone took a disliking to you,” Joe scratched his head.
“Yeah he’s a dead man. Either that or I should stop getting myself deputized.”
“Well ya can’t be that bad if your hobbling around. So how long ya out of action for then?”
“Never out of action... merely takin’ it slower,” I winked at him. “Feel like a drink?”
“If your buying sure “Business for me is non existent.”
“Will do,” I nodded and hobbled on the crutch towards the saloon.
Joe poured himself a beer and then looked at me, “Coffee with a bit of whiskey in it?” I asked, needing both.
“How much is a bit of whisky,” Joe asked. I showed him a pinch of my finger and smiled as he poured me the drink and handed it to me. “There you go.”
“Thanks darlin’,” I smiled at him. “Great to see you again. Oh... Starling is back home with Jimmi. Another case solved.”
“Is she and the baby safe?” he asked, joining me at the counter.
“As far as I know.”
“In the end that is all that matters,” Joe sipped his beer.
“Yep. I’m happy it’s over and dealt with. I can focus on the other things.”
“Ah, you have more cases to deal with then,” Joe smiled.
“Well just four right now... provided you’re still looking over that timeline for me?”
“Yes I will look over that, I doubt I will have much else to do, the docs are doing too well when I am around. Gives you something to do at least,” I winked at him.
“I guess so but I am sure there are more pleasurable activities,” Joe sighed and then laughed. “More profitable.”
“Oh really?” I looked over at him with a twinkle in my eye.
“Yep, just need to work out what those activities are,” he teased and sipped his beer.
“Guess dancing will be painful for a bit,” I laughed and sipped my coffee.
“How you want me to mark up your notes?” Joe looked at the timeline I had given him.
“Hmm well you can make your own note if you like... just write up stuff that I might not know. Or we could just talk it out if that’s easier.”
“Well Eye was a regulator once, and indeed a number of Cymbal’s family were regulators. Her father was one of the regulators, he says quietly and Jakob was also involved I think he was family as well,” he paused. “So long ago, and frankly memories are fading and I am blocking them out,” he looks at me. “Some say Cymbal was a regulator, after all they were family.”
“Knew Jake was a regulator.. Didn’t know he was family too.”
“As far as the wild bunch and the regulators, to put it mildly they were at war with each other,” he paused. “I think he was a cousin.”
“Yeah I’d guessed about the war soon as Ringo’s name was brought into it.”
“But as far as cymbals death and Kaly’s disappearance I have know idea “This town was part of cymbal hence sometimes feel uncomfortable here as if she is watching me.”
“Do you think the Wild Bunch killed her?” I reached over to hold his hand gently.
“No I don’t believe that,” he shook his head. “She was going mad though. She had to go to an institute for treatment. Regulators had a big compound near Tombstone.”
I raised an eyebrow and moved my hand to his thigh. “I’m listening.”
“You have to remember Black Diamond has always been the clack sheep of Tombstone,” he chuckled for a bit. “I am not sure what more I can add.”
“How come you don’t think her death was apart of this gang war? Seems the easiest answer to me.”
“Because the regulators had gone before me and Cymbal left the town.”
“Oh..”
“Cymbal must of come back,” Joe shrugged. “But the regulators were long gone and the wild bunch,” he shook his head. “I think there was a grudging respect of who and what she was.”
“After all she ran with the James gang a lomng time a go.”
“The James gang?!” I almost fell off my chair.
“The original James gang, about four years ago,” he looked at me.
“Clint Houston, Harmini, William McCoy, Dominic James, Anthony James...?” I looked at him seriously.
“Nope, before then I believe,” he shook his head and laughed. “But I remember Clint and Harmini.”
“Good gosh,” I shook my head.
“You have to remember we even had some of the devils,” he paused. “I can’t remember there names as out law in black diamond, Hav...” Joe shook his head and tried to remember.
“Hav Taraug?!?!” I blinked and gripped Joe’s thigh tightly.
“Yep,” he smiled.
“Goodness...” I shook my head, speechless.
“They were the best law the town ever had, but simply they were not given the chance... Devils Rejects...”
“Okay wait let me get this straight. Hav Taraug was in the James Gang back then?”
“The town had always been on the edge of law and outlaw,” he shook his head. “No, Hav was in the Devil’s Rejects. When Lady I thunk was in charge. But it’s al a bit foggy, Trin.”
“Don’t tell me you think Hav killed Cym...”
“We are talking a very very long time ago, before Cymbal was mayor here and lived in Bisbee.” He shook his head and said, “Never. Outlaws had a grudging respect for her.”
“Okay so... Maybe it wasn’t an outlaw who killed Cym. Maybe it was a lawman?”
“So if there was a fall in the mine then simply it could have been an accident.”
“You think it really is that simple?” I looked at him.
“Sometimes things are... the mine was always collapsing and many died there.”
I leaned forward and said, “So you’re saying.... it was a mine accident, pure and simple, and we were searching for a mystery that isn’t there? So I’ve been waisting the past eight months on a case that shouldn’t even exist?”
“That would be my guess... and typical of Cymbal to do that to you,” he laughed.
“Even in her death she leads me down a road that has no ending? Or just a simple ending?”
“Well unless any of these old rogues reappear I would say case closed,” he said and I rubbed my temples with a sigh. “Some cases are like that, Trin.”
“I’m calling it closed. I feel like we’re digging for something that ain’t there and it really was just a mining accident. It’s what makes the most sense. There was an outlaw war but everyone had huge respect for her. So no outlaws did it. If the law decided to take business into their own hands then fine but there would be a record of that in court, wouldn’t there? And I’ve looked through all the court records. For a different case but still.”
“Let old ghosts die,” Joe nodded and then turned when the swing door opened and a woman walked in. “Howdy. Another whiskey, Trin?” he asked me.
I leaned forward and took the whiskey, drinking it back.
“Don’t mind me, I have some paperwork needs filling in and this table is as good as the next one,” the girl smiled to Joe.
“Hi Ma’am, don’t think we’ve met,” I looked over at the woman.
“No, I don’t think we have. I’m Mai. I have just got back in from a little time away in Europe,” she smiled. “I didn’t want to intrude. It looked like you were discussing some pretty important things over there.”
“Just some ghosts form the past Mai, not seen you for a while,” Joe told her.
“Detective Trin Paige, nice to meet you,” I managed a smile to her. “Just found out I’ve been waisting eight months on an investigation where there ain’t no case.”
“Thems the worst kind of ghosts,” Mai nodded.
“Ah ghosts cant harm you.”
“Ah, a Detective, That explains it. So, are you giving up on your case then?” she asked.
“Ain’t no case there. I’m callin’ it closed.”
“Sounds like it might be for the best if it’s causing you so much grief,” she nodded.
“Well it ain’t my grief..” I sighed, “Just tryin’ to provide answers. But it seems the answers are simpler than we thought.’
“Simple is always good,” Joe nodded.
“We were lookin’ for an outlaw war that didn’t even exist. Only way this was a murder is if law took matters into their own hands. And like I said... there’d be record of that, which there ain’t.”
“So, where’ve you been hiding yourself Joe? It must have been a decade since I saw you last,” Mia looked at him.
“Ah, ya’ll are old friends?”
“I was a vet here when Mai was a nurse. I went to Mexico Mai and built a boat and explored,” Joe explained.
“He was one of the first people I met when I arrived.”
“That’s great,” I smiled and winked at him. “He’s good people.”
“Sounds exciting stuff Joe. Did she sail?” Mai nodded.
“She was great but I had some bad lumber lost the ship and now back here. Most folks say I am grumpy and short with them,” Joe said and looked at me. I realized that they were talking about the boat and chuckled to myself.
“Life throws us lemons everyday eh Joe?” Mia rolled her eyes.
“I ain’t most folks, Joe... Should know that by now,” I chuckled.
“Indeed Mia,” Joe laughed. “Hence the sour expression sometimes. True Trin... Reckon ya taken too many shots or been out in the sun too long,” Joe looked at me.
“Seems I have a liking for grumpy people. I also like big ears. No idea what that is all about,” Mia chuckled.
“Not nice to make fun of the wounded,” I nudged Joe.
“Oh they are the best kind to make fun of. Can’t hit you back,” Joe smiled.
“I was a doctor for far too long and believe me humour was only way to get through the day,” Joe looked at me.
“My arms work perfectly fine, thank you,” I winked and Mia laughed. “Notice he didn’t sit in the stool beside me.”
“I have no doubt about that,” Mia chuckled.
“Aye and she has a crutch as a weapon and guns. I still don’t carry one,” Joe said.
“Mmhmm. This crutch will poke an eye out.”
“Some nurse I am. I didn’t even notice the crutch and bandage,” Mia looked over at me. “Did you get in to a fight with a bullet?”
“Oh really? Hope it’s healing nicely for you. Bullet wounds can be hell to heal.”
“Yeah kills to walk but the crutch’ll help. Luckily my best friend’s a doctor and he changed the bandage this morning.”
“Yes depending on the doctor involved,” Joe laughed.
“The doc last night... Don’t get me started,” I shook my head.
“Who was it?” Joe laughed.
“Jess. Shouldn’t take an hour to get out two bullets.”
“An hour! What on earth were they doing in there?” Mia gasped.
“Mining for gold, I guess,” Joe guessed.
“Well part of it was ‘cause we were transferred to Goldfield ‘cause of the dust storm... But still.”
“Things sure have changed,” Joe shook his head. “I’ll head back to the office; you had better heal quickly,” he smiled at me.
I nodded to him and waved to Mia as I headed home to rest.
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