“Do we have any idea when to expect them?” Stattler asked.
“We were just hopin’ we’d get here before them,” Thomas said. “Ralph?”
“Probably within the next few days,” Cory guessed.
“Good,” Stattler said, “that gives us some time to get some men together and assigned.”
“Can’t you send some men over now?” Thomas asked.
“It’s not that easy, Deputy,” the chief said. “This is a police department, and there are some protocols that need to be followed. I should be able to have some men over there by tomorrow afternoon.”
“That may be too late,” Thomas said.
“Better to be safe than sorry,” the chief said. “I need to choose my men properly and get them into position.”
“I really think you should send some men now—”
“Deputy,” Stattler said, “I appreciate you bringing this to my attention, but you are very young and I believe I’m better equipped to handle this situation. Why don’t you and your friend enjoy what our city has to offer for a few days while I take care of business.”
Cory looked at Thomas, wondering how the deputy would handle being talked down to that way.
“You mean you don’t want our help?” Thomas asked.
“You’re in the big city now, Deputy,” Stattler said. “This is not the old West that you’re used to.”
“Chief, I don’t—”
“Okay, Chief,” Cory said, cutting Thomas off, “we’ll just be goin’, then.”
“Please don’t misunderstand me,” Stattler said, standing. “I appreciate the information, but these things are better handled by professionals.”
“What do you—”
“Let’s go, Thomas,” Cory said. “The chief obviously has some work to do.”
Thomas wanted to stay and argue, but Cory took him by the arm and led him to the door.
Once they were outside the building, Thomas said, “I don’t believe his attitude. We brought him this information. If he doesn’t act quickly—”
“Thomas,” Cory said, “this chief is obviously a by-the-book kind of fella. He’s gonna do things at his own pace.”
“And by that time Cardwell could hit the bank and be gone.”
“So what do you want to do?”
Thomas eyed a café across the street and said, “Let’s go over there and get somethin’ to eat. I’m starvin’.”
“So am I,” Cory said, and they crossed over.
Once there, they both sank wearily into chairs, gave their orders to the waiter, and didn’t speak again until the food was in front of them. With renewed vigor, they tore into their steaks.
“I don’t know what to do, Ralph,” Thomas said as he was chewing.
“Well,” Cory said, “one thing we can do is telegraph your pa and tell him where we are.”
“Good idea,” Thomas replied. “Maybe he’s even heard from James.”
“Whenever Cardwell arrives, James and Berto should be right behind him.”
“Unless they caught up to him,” Thomas said, “and took him.”
“I guess that’s possible.”
“You don’t think so?”
“Thomas, I’ve been studying some of the things Ben Cardwell has done,” Cory said. “I think we got to realize who we’re dealin’ with here.”
“What are you sayin’, Ralph?”
“I have an idea,” Cory said, “a hunch, really. Let me lay it out for you and see what you think, okay?”
“Can we keep eatin’ while you do it?”
“Definitely.”
“Okay, then,” Thomas said, “go ahead….”
Across the street the young officer who had shown Thomas and Cory into the chief’s office came into the man’s office himself.
“Where’d they go?” Stattler asked him.
“They went into the café across the street, sir.”
“Did you stand outside the door and listen, Peter?”
“Yes, sir,” said Lieutenant Peter Masters, who acted as Stattler’s personal assistant. “What are you going to do, sir?”
“We can’t be at all sure they’re wrong,” Stattler said. “I mean, the boy’s an obvious amateur.”
“And the older man?”
“Not an amateur,” the chief said, “but not a lawman. He seems familiar to me, as well.”
“What shall we do, sir?”
“I want six men posted at the main branch of the Bank of Denver,” Stattler said.
“Just that one branch, sir?”
“That’s right,” Stattler said, “and I want them heavily armed.”
“What if they’re right and the bank is hit by a dozen bank robbers, sir?”
“Six of my men should be able to handle a gang like that, Masters, don’t you think?”
“Uh, yes, sir.”
“Especially,” Stattler added, “if they’re commanded by you.”
Lieutenant Masters squared his shoulders and said, “Yes, sir!”
“You choose the men,” the chief said, “and have them in place by tomorrow afternoon.”
“What if they hit one of the other branches, sir?”
“If this Cardwell is who I think he is, he’ll hit the bank with the largest amount of deposits. I feel fairly safe in predicting that, Masters…don’t you agree?”
The young lieutenant, who would never dream of disagreeing with his boss, said, “Yes, sir!”
“See to it, then.”
Masters left, and Stattler sat back in his chair. He’d heard of Ben Cardwell, knew the man was a bank robber. If the deputy and his friend had not presented him with Cardwell’s name, he would have put them down as alarmists. However, the fact that they had Cardwell’s name led him to believe there was some credence to their story.
Of course, if they were wrong and he made a fool of himself by placing his men there, they’d live to regret it.
68
Thomas and Cory came out of the telegraph office with Thomas shaking his head.
“Why would he do that?” he asked. “Why would he leave town? Get on a horse with a wound like the one he has?”
“He was worried about you boys,” Cory said. “That’s why he did it.”
“So now he’s out there somewhere, maybe bleedin’.”
“Your pa knows what he’s doin’.”
“I used to think so.”
“What?”
Thomas was startled to realize he had said that out loud.
“Ever since Ma was killed, and Matthew, he’s been different,” he said. Since he’d gone ahead and started, he figured he might as well finish. “Not the same man, you know? Not as sure…not the same…father.”
“You and your pa have to talk, Thomas,” Cory said. “I mean, really talk.”
“I know,” Thomas said. “I think we’ve both known, but neither one of us has wanted to start.”
“Well,” Cory said, “somebody has to.”
“You’re right,” Thomas said, “but after this is all over.”
They started walking away from the telegraph office. The telegram from Ron Hill was in Thomas’s pocket. He was not only surprised that his father had left Vengeance Creek, but that he had left it in the hands of Ron Hill.
“What do you think of my idea?” Cory asked.
“I think it’s the only way for us to go,” Thomas said. “It makes sense to me, especially when you said we had to consider who we were dealin’ with.”
“Right,” Cory said. “A man who has never treated anyone fairly, a man who has probably double-crossed everyone who ever trusted him.”
“It’s a surprise somebody hasn’t killed him by now,” Thomas said.
“Well, with a little luck,” Ralph Cory said, “maybe we can change that.”
Thomas and Cory had each taken their own room, and that night they sat on the bed, cleaning their weapons, alone with their thoughts.
Thomas wondered where James was, and where his father was. He wondered what tomorrow or the next day would bring. He wondered if, when all was said and done, he’d actually be able to talk to his father—and have his father talk to him—so they could put aside the barrier that had been between them for the past year.