Part 7
Riding out to the Keenan ranch, Nick shook his head in admiration of his brother. Regardless of Heath had said, Nick knew Sheriff Boggs and his bigoted attitudes bothered him. But Heath kept himself completely controlled and never let his anger show. Nick sometimes wished he had that ability, but it has bypassed him completely. He'd told Heath he would control his temper with the sheriff, but even so, he would have happily torn the man apart if Heath hadn't stopped him.
Finally finding the turn to the Keenan ranch, they headed up the drive to where they found a small, neat farmhouse. It was nearing dusk, and Nick expected Keenan would either be there now or on his way. Leaving the horses tied to the corral fence, he followed Heath up to the porch.
Shortly, their knock was answered by a well-built man about his own age who blinked in surprise. "Heath! What a surprise! Come on in."
Nick followed Heath into the cabin and grinned as Heath introduced him.
"It's good to see you. This is my brother, Nick."
Keenan reached forward, and Nick felt a good, strong grip to go with the open smile. First impression—he liked the man.
Keenan invited them to sit and offered supper which Heath declined. Then his brother got right to the point. "The story you told me about the robberies has been weighing on me. That's why I'm here."
"All right."
"Jarrod and I got home, and I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I got so distracted that Nick, here, was about to fire me."
Nick grinned at Heath's kidding, and Keenan smiled in amusement at them both.
Heath continued, "So I came back and asked Sheriff Boggs if I could look into it for him."
Keenan looked surprised. "How?"
"I asked him to deputize me."
Keenan looked confused and appeared to be waiting on the funny part of the joke. He'd be waiting an awful long time. As Heath's silence stretched out, Keenan's expression changed from expectant amusement to bewildered astonishment. "You're not serious?"
Heath nodded. Nick was glad his brother's silent treatment extended to all acquaintances...not just him.
Keenan still didn't believe it. "You'd work for that narrow minded fool?"
"To figure out who robbed those stages? Yeah."
Keenan took a few seconds to note Heath's resolute demeanor and then nodded. "Well. All right. What can I do to help?"
Heath nodded briefly, then started, "An important piece of stolen property was found on your ranch. You understand I have to question you?"
Keenan seemed lost for words. "You know I didn't have anything to do with this, Heath."
Heath looked down briefly as he answered, "But it is a lead, and I have to investigate it." Keenan appeared betrayed, but Heath continued, "Even if you had nothing to do with it, that pouch is still an important clue. How did it get on your property? Who left it there? Was it intentionally planted to frame you, or was it just forgotten or accidentally dropped? If it isn't you, then we need to figure out how it got on your property."
Keenan digested all these questions and then nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that makes sense. Sorry to jump all over you."
Heath grinned forgiveness for the man's suspicions. Just about then, Nick's stomach announced it was ready to eat.
They all laughed, and Keenan grinned at Heath. "Well, if you're gonna ask all these questions, any reason you can't ask and eat at the same time? I'm hungry too, and I've got a ranch that don't run itself."
Nick looked at Heath and bounced his brows with ironic significance. Here was a man after his own heart.
Heath glanced back at him and shrugged in resignation. "Well, I guess we're having supper with you after all."
In short order, they were seated with large bowls of a hearty and tasty stew, and Heath and Keenan were going back and forth over where Keenan had been during each of the robberies. Finally, they moved on to where the mail pouch had been found, and Nick learned that the sheriff had found a crudely written, anonymous note three days after the last robbery that the mail pouch was in a certain area of the Keenan ranch. Nick looked at Heath as he searched through the thin file the sheriff had given him. Not finding it, Heath looked at Nick and Keenan and shook his head. "Maybe it was misfiled."
Nick shook his head in disgust. Considering the sheriff, it could have been lost, misfiled, or conveniently forgotten. Whichever, Nick knew Heath would be following up with Boggs.
Heath then asked about the two lawsuits Keenan had mentioned as possible sources for a frame-up that Nick now felt was responsible for the 'evidence' against Clive. He led him through an explanation of the origins of the legal actions, and Nick got the details of the mining suit against Boris Vardosky and the apple harvest issue against Tivis Giles. Both situations were problematic legally, but Clive seemed philosophical about the impending court dates and their outcomes. He wasn't certain he was right, hadn't consulted a lawyer before filing his suits, and didn't seem to be overly upset about the prospect of losing. He just wanted an answer one way or the other so that if reparations were due him, then he could collect. His whole attitude seemed strange to Nick, but he could recognize that both Jarrod and Heath might respond in a similar manner. He shook his head minutely; the same couldn't be said for him or probably Gene either—they both tended to take perceived slights a bit more personally.
As they stood up after the long dinner, Clive apologized for his initial anger at Heath for the interrogation. Heath shrugged it off and shook Clive's hand. "We'll keep you informed on our progress."
Clive seemed relieved. "I was hoping you would. Call on me any time if I can help—no matter what you need, I'll do my best." Heath nodded as Clive reached toward Nick. "Nice meeting you, too, Nick. Did you come along to keep him out of Sheriff Boggs's jail?"
Catching Clive's teasing mood, Nick shook his head regretfully. "The boy couldn't take care of himself if he tried."
As expected, Heath shoved him, and Nick grinned along with Clive. Then Nick admitted, "Truthfully, Heath'll probably be the one keeping me out of the jug 'cause he'll stop me from throttling that idiot when he starts shooting his mouth off." That drew rueful laughs from all of them as Nick and Heath said goodbye and headed out to mount up.
Heading out the gate into the night, Nick looked over at his brother. "So, what are we starting with tomorrow?"
