Chapter 9

Once over at the offices of the Board of Conduct, Jarrod asked for and was freely given the document Dysart filed but Jarrod hadn't received, delineating his charges. The secretary said only, "You'll have to read it right here in front of me. I'm not allowed to let you take it out of my sight. You can sit at that table over there."

Jarrod nodded, saying, "Nick, this will take me a while. There's a pretty good bar right across the street. I'll meet you over there when I'm through."

"As long as you don't go anywhere else," Nick said. "If I'm gonna look after you, I'm gonna look after you."

Jarrod gave him a smile, then said very quietly, "Just look after yourself, and if you happen to see some faces we just got familiar with and they're following you around – don't start swinging away. Just watch them."

"How long do you think you'll be?"

"Shouldn't be more than 20 minutes or so. Nurse a beer."

"All right," Nick said.

He left, crossing the street to a bar called just "The Bar." Probably where lawyers went, Nick decided when he went in and found every man in there was in a business suit, and quite a few were at tables talking, papers out in front of them. Nothing at all like a good old fashioned saloon with a good old fashion poker game going on.

Nick placed himself at the bar and ordered a beer. Then he just sipped and looked around. He was watching for Dysart and/or his muscle men, but didn't see them at all. He was almost tempted to ask the bartender if Jed Dysart came here very often, but he decided against it. Better to just keep quiet and keep watching.

He almost didn't notice the young man who came in from the back, carrying a case of whiskey that he took behind the bar, but once Nick did notice he turned his face away until the boy went back into the storeroom he came from. Once he was gone, Nick quickly finished his beer and went back over to the Board of Conduct office.

"Jarrod – "

Jarrod was still at the table, reading, taking notes. He looked up. He could see the urgency in Nick's face. "What is it?"

Nick came close to him and said, very quietly, "Are you almost finished here?"

"Almost," Jarrod said just as quietly. "What's going on? Did you see Dysart or his muscle?"

"No," Nick said, "but I saw somebody else you might be more interested in."

"Who?"

"Outside, after you're finished. I'll meet you right out front."

Nick went out, leaving Jarrod questioning and a bit worried. He finished making his notes, put them into the inside pocket of his coat, and gave the document from Dysart back to the secretary. "Is my meeting with the Board still set for ten tomorrow morning?" he asked.

The secretary checked the appointment book in front of him. "Yes, Mr. Barkley."

Jarrod nodded. "I'll be here."

He went outside and found Nick just waiting there in front of the building, smoking a cigar and watching the bar across the street.

"I'm finished," Jarrod said. "What's going on?"

Nick dropped his cigar onto the street and stepped on it to make sure it was out. "How good a look did you get at that kid who slugged you and stole your files?"

"Not very good at all, just the basics, you know that," Jarrod said. "He had me facing away from him and he slugged me as soon as we made it to the alcove where I keep my filing cabinets."

"Well, I got a really good, long look at him, and the scar on the back of his hand," Nick said, "and he's working right across the street at The Bar."

Jarrod lit up. "What?"

"I just saw him bring a box from a back room to the bartender," Nick said.

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure. I always remember men who hold me at gunpoint."

"Did he see you?"

"I don't think so. I turned away the minute I saw him, and he wasn't looking my way at that point."

Jarrod heaved a sigh.

"What do you want to do?" Nick asked.

Jarrod weighed his options. Find a policeman? Go talk to the kid himself first? Let Nick have at him alone? He decided. "There's a back door to that place in the alley. We'll have to be careful – I know some men are inclined to use it when they don't want to be seen leaving by the front door."

"Nasty little town you have here," Nick said.

"Politics is nasty business sometimes," Jarrod said. "Come on. Let's see if we can catch this kid alone."

Jarrod led the way, straight to the back door, which made Nick wonder. "You sure knew exactly where it is. Should I ask if you've used this door yourself?"

Jarrod gave a little smile. "Once or twice. The storeroom is just inside, and the kid you saw might be in there. I'll look to you to be sure he's the right kid."

Nick nodded. Jarrod quietly opened the door, but knew sunlight from the outside was going to alert whoever was in there – and there was someone there. Nick moved beside his brother, and looked, and saw.

And the kid saw him and Jarrod.

The boy ran for the door that led into the bar, but Nick caught up with him fast and grabbed him before he could get to it. He pulled him back and shoved him Jarrod's way. Jarrod grabbed him and hauled him outside the back door.

Nick followed them out in time to see Jarrod slam the kid up against the wall of the bar. "Don't try talking your way out of it," Jarrod said. "You assaulted me and stole my files in Stockton and I'll have you for that, but if you cooperate I might not be as nasty as I'm planning to be right now. Where are my files? What did you do with them?"

Nick closed the back door and stood beside Jarrod, glaring at the kid. There was no one else in the alley. Jarrod gave the boy another hard shove up against the wall and held him there hard.

"All right! All right!" the kid said, looking Nick's way, knowing that Nick had seen him even if he had knocked Jarrod out before he could see him back in his office in Stockton.

"Where are my files?" Jarrod asked again.

"I gave them to the guy who hired me," the kid said.

"Who hired you?" Jarrod asked.

"I don't know his name – "

Jarrod slammed him up against the wall again, and Nick took a step closer, saying, "You hit me too, kid. I got my own assault charge I can press, or not press."

"Who hired you?" Jarrod asked.

"I don't know his name but he comes in here now and then!" the boy said.

"Describe him," Jarrod said.

"Big man, older, pretty strong. Wears a short beard and moustache, brown hair, beard a little gray," the boy blubbered.

"Is he a lawyer?" Jarrod asked.

"I don't know. I don't think so. He looks like somebody's muscle."

Jarrod and Nick looked at each other. Neither of the men they saw with Dysart today looked like that.

"Whose muscle?" Jarrod asked.

"I don't know – just somebody's, maybe for hire, I don't know," the kid blubbered more.

"Is he in the bar now?" Nick asked.

"No," the boy said. "I haven't seen him in a few days."

"Have you seen him since you gave him the files?" Jarrod asked.

"Yeah, he came in Monday or Tuesday, I can't remember which."

Jarrod eased up a little. The kid was breathing hard, eyes watery and frightened. Jarrod shoved the boy Nick's way, and Nick took hold of him. "We're gonna go see the police," Jarrod said, "and you're gonna tell them everything you know." Then he looked at Nick. "If this big guy with the beard is hired muscle, the police might know who he is."

"Let's go," Nick said and kept hold of the boy, forcing him along behind Jarrod as Jarrod led the way to the nearest police station.

"I got a job!" the kid blurted out.

"Not for long, you don't," Nick said.