Heyes jumped off the train from Denver and with long strides quickly exited the station. He briefly stopped on the sidewalk just outside, before turning left and hurrying through the dusty streets towards the poor end of town. He stopped when he came to a very down at heel hotel with a black painted door that had seen better days. Much like the rest of the place thought Heyes ruefully as he stepped gingerly through the door.

He stood in the gloomy, musty smelling reception area and peered at his boots. He'd have to clean them on the way out of this dump and visit a bath house to make sure he wasn't carrying any unwelcome guests. Maybe even burn his clothes. He'd stayed in worse places he was sure, but he was hard put to remember exactly when.

He had the money to stay somewhere better, but it seemed much wiser to stay well away from the richer areas as much as possible. Heyes pulled on his right glove to ring the rather dirty looking bell on the desk. At least it was only for three nights because on the twenty seventh he'd be on his way back to Colorado Springs to meet Kid on his release.

The room wasn't as bad as the reception area had suggested. It was mostly clean although very worn. Heyes threw most of his luggage haphazardly in a corner, except for two items which he placed carefully on the ornate but worn sideboard by the window. He used the only chair in the room to secure the door after he'd locked it and lay down on the bed, which was less uncomfortable than he'd imagined. Sleep took some time to come, but eventually with hope tugging at his thoughts he drifted into a restless doze, that lasted on and off throughout the night.

Heyes hovering outside one of the best hotels in Cheyenne, attempting to look inconspicuous, was relieved when the third private coach proved to be the one he was waiting for. Soapy looking surprisingly refreshed stepped down and stood watching as Heyes took the luggage from the driver as he handed it down from the roof.

Once he'd finished he turned to greet Soapy who gave him a smile and a nod, waving a leather case of documents at him. "I have everything you need. Now I'm tired and hungry so lets go up to my room and order room service and look at what we've got."

Once settled, with food ordered, Soapy handed the case over to Heyes. "They were eager for me to invest when they were persuaded about how much money I could offer them and practically threw the information at me." Soapy paused, his eyes bright. "They were also very proud of what they were doing. I might have been tempted if it was just a matter of return on investment. But I've seen what prison does to men." He paused again before adding grimly. "Manley and Masters don't care about anything except the money. The lives of the men involved don't even register with them. To be frank Heyes, despite hardly being on the right side of the law myself, their lack of decency made even my skin crawl."

Heyes shuffled through the sheaf of documents Soapy handed him and gave a low whistle at the sums involved. He found Kid's name and prison number on the sixth page and ground his teeth, crumpling the edges of the paper tightly at the price they'd put on his partner's misery. There was even some commentary on him in neat copperplate writing. Good and strong. Will be a useful worker for heavy jobs. Seven years left to serve. $900.Would be more, but will likely require heavy discipline to keep in line which reduces his worth.

Heyes pushed down the anger and forced himself to simply concentrate on cold facts. "Wyoming has missed out on close to a hundred thousand dollars over two years." He looked up into Soapy's rheumy eyes and said bleakly. "If they'd not been so greedy, there'd be nothing we could do. Most of this isn't even illegal!" Heyes took several deep breaths to control the anger that was beginning to cloud his mind. He needed to stay calm and keep his temper or he'd never convince anyone of anything.

Soapy grasped his shoulder tightly and said reasonably. "Well they did get greedy and cost the territory a lot of money, so they've done most of our job for us. All that's left is for us to convince the Governor that ending this little sideline of theirs is worth what you're asking. I can't see why it wouldn't be."

Heyes looked up with a slight smile and nodded. "Lom Trevors is coming into town tomorrow. We've got a meeting set up with Moonlight the day after. These oughta be more than enough for what I need." He paused and returned the documents carefully to the leather case as a knock on the door drew their attention. "Room service!"

XXX

The Kid shovelled the final layer of soil over Morris' body and blinked tiredly, wincing at the pain in his back as he slowly straightened. His head was thumping from the sun beating down. His hands were bleeding from being rubbed raw by the rough, worn handle of the shovel. He gratefully took the mug of water thrust in his direction and drank it in one gulp. The liquid nearly came back up as it bounced onto his unsettled stomach, but he clamped his mouth shut and with some effort managed to keep the water down. Clean up detail had been every bit as awful as he'd feared.

"That ain't a bad effort. It's too late for you to join another work detail, but the boss says he wants you to empty out the piss pots in your block."

"Do what now?" Small tendrils of anger started to creep out from under the Kid's exhaustion and he gritted his teeth as he started to tense, ready to put up a fight.

"You heard me! Now you got two choices. You can resist and force me to report you, making both our days longer and yours real painful. Or you could just do what you're gonna end up doing anyways nice and easy. The second way means you get to return to your bunk good and early and I get to go eat."

Faced with the rather brutal voicing of what had been his own feelings that morning, the Kid sighed and took a steadying breath. His face burned in shame as he nodded his agreement. What had he been brought down to?

XXX

Heyes paced the corridor outside the Governor's office, his eyes drifting frequently to the grandfather clock on the far wall. "He better turn up Lom! Or the price goes up."

Lom looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "He's just making a point, Heyes. He'll be here."

"Well, he can make his point on someone else's time!"

Finally as the clock struck seven, they were ushered into the finely furnished office by a officious man, who was obviously the Governor's secretary.

"Hannibal Heyes and Sheriff Trevors are here to see you."

Heyes rolled his eyes at the stupidity of it and said tiredly. "He made the appointment! Of course he knows whose here."

"Heyes." Trevor's voice held only mild warning, he was obviously just as annoyed at the pantomime as he was.

"So why the urgency to see me?"Moonlight was sat behind his desk with his hands steepled and made no attempt to stand and greet them. Heyes sighed and marched up to the desk, anger overcoming whatever other emotion this environment might usually had engendered.

"Well Mr Moonlight. I have procured some documents in a perfectly legal manner, that you're going to be real interested in."

"Is that so? And how did you procure them exactly?"

"That don't matter, all that's important is that it was all legal and above board."

"Is this true Sheriff Trevors?"

"Yes, Governor, it was perfectly legal."

Moonlight pulled his gaze back to Heyes and waved his hand. "Very well, carry on."

Heyes smiled in what he hoped was an irritating manner, before saying carefully."Well, I need to be sure you'll meet my conditions before I hand them over. "

An expression that might have been amusement crossed the Governor's face as he said."And pray what might these conditions be? As if I didn't already know."

Heyes let his smile broaden and he threw his hands wide. "Well in case you're in need of a reminder, here they are. I want amnesty and for my partner Kid Curry to be given a full pardon, effective immediately. I also want a finders fee of five thousand dollars seeing as I have gone to some considerable effort to gain access to these documents."

Heyes ignored Lom's surreptitious throat clearing and kept his eyes firmly on the man in front of him. Moonlight rested his eyes on Heyes, his gaze fierce, but it was him who looked away first.

His eyes roamed briefly a little restlessly around his office before returning to rest on Heyes' face. "You are living up to your reputation Mr Heyes. What exactly is in these documents that is so important that I'd be willing to meet such a price?"

"Just evidence of a scam that has cost Wyoming a tidy sum and will continue to do so, unless you put a stop to it."

Moonlight's gaze flicked over to Lom then back to Heyes, "Very well I believe you. But I have a question for you. What's stopping me from having you arrested and discovering the documents myself?"

Heyes said calmly despite the anger the words had ignited, even though he'd expected such a threat and was well prepared for it. "Well Mr Moonlight, as you say I have a reputation that I've more than earnt. So I don't exactly see how you figure on succeeding, although you're more than welcome to try. But the price will go up quite considerably when you fail and are forced to ask for my help."

The tension in the room ratcheted up and Lom Trevors stepped forward. "Look, Governor, I've seen those documents yesterday, but before you ask I don't have an idea of where they are now. I can however assure you that their importance to Wyoming and the positive effect on your political capital far exceed the payment Heyes is asking."

Heyes looked back at Lom in some surprise at the ringing endorsement and covered a smile. Miss Porter was definitely having a very positive effect on him.

Moonlight glanced between the two men and shrugged before sitting down to unlock the right hand drawer of his heavy desk to remove two documents, one of which he handed over to Heyes, while the second he returned to the drawer and locked away. "I will give you the second document and the payment of five thousand dollars on viewing this important information, if I deem it worth the cost. I'll be waiting for your return."

Heyes didn't wait to be dismissed and with a slight smile towards Lom as he went past him at the door, left quickly. It wasn't all Heyes had wanted, but as he walked over to meet Soapy at a cafe they'd decided on, not far from the Governor's mansion, he felt that he could trust the man enough to follow through. Lom would be a good witness to the promise he'd made, and besides if not, he had a back up plan to ensure the required outcome anyway.

He sat down and briefly studied the document Moonlight had given him. His amnesty. He placed it carefully in his jacket pocket and was surprised how little it meant at the moment. Until he was sure Kid would be able to enjoy his freedom too, it felt almost worthless, despite how long he'd waited for it and what it had cost.

Soapy gazed at him in silence before looking down at his breakfast and beginning to eat. He offered no commentary, for which Heyes was grateful. As he ate, Heyes just drank coffee and impatiently moved his gaze from his pocket watch to the town clock in the square across from them. Heyes was up on his feet as the clock struck eight. At three minutes past they were retrieving the documents they'd stored at Wyoming First National Bank the day before. Ignoring the surprised expression of the manager they exited quickly. "I'll bring the Kid as soon as I can. You don't know how much this means to us."

"I look forward to seeing you both very soon. It's been a real tonic, Heyes! A real tonic."

After a heartfelt handshake, they parted ways. Soapy walked briskly away towards his hotel while Heyes strode back to the mansion clutching the leather binder tightly.

After studying the documents that Heyes had handed him, Moonlight looked up in some surprise. "Well, Mr Heyes you weren't exaggerating. I'll have a copy of Mr Curry's pardon sent to Colorado Springs forthwith and here is the rest of what we agreed." He smiled toothily and put his hand out. Heyes shook it with some reluctance as the man said. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Well, Governor, it's a real shame that I can't say the same." Before the man could reply, Heyes tipped his hat and exited smartly, his heart thudding loud in his ears as what he'd just succeeded in doing hit him. They were free at last.

XXX