LOST AND FOUND - PART 6

UNJUST

Chapter 46

Early the next morning, Adam came into the front room, yawned and stretched. Both he and Matt had been up all night with Thea, doing everything they could to ease her pain without the use of morphine and it had been a very long night.

Matt poured them both a cup of coffee and handed one to him when he moved to stand beside Adam at the front window.

The two men stood and watched the sun come up as the street before them came to life. They were just about to turn away when Adam noticed a growing crowd in front of Roy's office.

"Something's up," Adam said. He stood there thinking for a bit then turned away to put his gun belt on. He tied down the holster, just in case.

After refilling his cup, he came back to stand next to Matt again. As the two men continued to watch, the crowd parted and Roy came through, followed by various members of the Mueller family.

"This doesn't look good," Matt said.

Adam turned away, walked over to Thea's desk then leaned his hips back against it. "No Matt, it doesn't," he answered, and continued to drink his coffee as they waited.

Roy managed to stay in front of the people following him, but just barely. He stopped and turned around when he stepped up on the board sidewalk in front of the doctor's office.

He raised his hands, "Now all of you can't come in here."

Aaron Mueller, an almost exact copy of his brother Abe stuck out his chin and glared at the sheriff. "You can't keep me outta there. I want to hear what that killer's got to say."

Roy glared back at the man for a moment. "Alright, I suppose there should be a representative of the family present, but only one," he said and turned to open the office door.

When he went in Aaron was right behind him, practically walking up his heels. The sheriff turned and gave the man an irritated look saying, "Shut the door." Mueller blinked at him a few times then did as he was told.

Adam was still leaning against the desk and Matt had moved to stand beside him.

"Good morning," Matt said to Roy, ignoring the other man.

"Morning Matt, Adam," Roy responded.

Adam nodded his head at the sheriff. "What's this about, Roy?" he said.

Mueller's face turned a deeper red. "As if you didn't know!" he said loudly.

Pinning the other man with a hard stare Adam said, "Keep your voice down, I don't want my wife disturbed."

The other man continued to glare, but shut his mouth.

"Adam," Roy said reluctantly, "Abe Mueller was shot and killed last night." Matt's eyes opened wide - clearly he was shocked. Adam, however, clearly was not.

"You don't seem surprised," Roy said.

"Very few things surprise me anymore Roy, not after all I've seen. Considering the kind of man Abe was it was only a matter of time until SOMEBODY killed him."

Seething with anger Mueller shouted, "What the hell do you mean by that?"

"I told you to stay out of this," Roy said. "One more word out of you and I'll throw you out." He turned back to Adam who hadn't bothered to answer Mueller. "I'm sorry, but I have to ask to see your gun."

Adam looked impassively at the older man for a moment. Then in the blink of an eye his gun appeared in his hand. Roy started, but then Adam let go of the butt of the gun and handed it to the sheriff dangling from his finger in the trigger guard.

Roy reached out with a hand that shook slightly and took the proffered weapon. He snapped open the cylinder, "Fully loaded." Then he sniffed at the barrel, "Hasn't been fired recently either."

"That doesn't mean anything," Mueller started to say, but then ground his teeth in frustration when Roy gave him an exasperated look.

"Were you here all night?" the sheriff asked Adam.

"Yes."

"Can anyone verify that?"

"I can," Thea said and the four men turned to her. Both Roy and Aaron stared, deeply shocked; she looked even worse than she had the day before.

Her half-open eyes fastened on Mueller with contempt, "This is what your brother did to me." She held up her heavily bandaged hands. "Would you like me to take off my robe so you can see the rest of his work?" Thea said with true venom in her voice.

Mueller turned red again and hung his head to stare at the floor.

Adam was giving Thea an admonishing look for what she had said. "Theadora, come here."

She slowly and painfully walked up to him and he stood to carefully take her in his arms. "I was here all night with Thea, Roy. None of us got any sleep at all," he said looking at the sheriff over his wife's head.

Matt spoke up, "That's true."

Thea turned her head to say over her shoulder, "He's been with me the whole time."

Mueller's head snapped up, "They're lying!"

Roy ignored him, "Adam, you know I still have to take you in. You did attack the man and threaten to kill him."

Thea turned around to stare furiously at the sheriff, "Do you actually believe Adam would do something like that?"

"No I don't, but I still have to do my job," Roy said apologetically.

Adam put his hands on her shoulders to turn her back to him. "Roy is right," he said as he gently hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. Then he looked into her eyes. "Don't worry, I didn't kill Mueller and the only thing they can use against me is a threat made in anger."

Thea nodded as he let go and stepped around her to move toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Roy asked.

"With you," Adam answered him with a puzzled look. "I AM under arrest, aren't I?" Roy nodded.

"Then let's go before the entire town is standing out there." He opened the door and stood there waiting.

Roy glanced at Thea then turned to follow. When he reached the door Thea spoke, "If anything happens to him I will hold you personally responsible." The sheriff just nodded, took Adam's arm and tried to lead him through the door. He couldn't move the younger man an inch.

"I'm not going out that door until HE does," Adam said firmly.

Roy turned toward Mueller, "You heard the man, come on."

Aaron was still staring at Thea, but he turned away and started for the door.

"Mueller," Thea said softly and he stopped. All four men looked at her. "If you so much as touch one hair on my husband's head you better be prepared to be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life. No matter how long, OR SHORT, that time may be."

She looked the man over with cold eyes then turned away to carefully walk back to the treatment room. Matt was right behind her.

The three men watched her go then Adam looked down at Roy's hand on his arm with amusement. "Do you mind, Roy? That's not necessary, I'm cooperating fully."

Roy looked at his friend, a man he knew to be honorable, someone who could be trusted in all circumstances. He let go of Adam's arm and the two went through the door together. The crowd parted to let them through. As they stepped off the board sidewalk Adam said, "Shut the door Aaron, do something useful for a change."

Mueller was shaking with rage and slammed the door shut as hard as he could. Adam smiled to himself as he and Roy walked shoulder to shoulder across the street and up to the sheriff's office.

Roy opened the door and Adam went in first. He walked across the room, pausing only for a second to pick up the ring of keys from Roy's desk, and stopped in front of the cell where Abe was murdered. His sharp eyes surveyed the cell taking in the details. He looked at the bed and noted the absence of blood and the small amount of glass on the floor. His eyes narrowed as he continued looking around.

Not seeing anything else of significance he moved to the next cell, unlocked the door, and stepped inside. He turned to toss the key ring to Roy and pulled the door shut then shook it to let the sheriff know it was locked.

Roy looked back at him, his expression saying he was extremely unhappy at this situation. Adam smiled at him.

"Try to keep it down out there Roy. I've been up all night and need to get some sleep," he said and went to the cot, lay down and chuckled. "I can also use some peace and quiet. Don't get me wrong, I love my children, but having the five of them running around, yelling, and trying to climb me can get on my nerves every now and then." He laughed and was pleased to hear Roy laugh with him as he stretched, turned onto his side to face the wall, and immediately fell asleep.

No more than an hour later the din of voices raised in anger woke him. He opened his eyes and sighed; his friends and family had gathered together sooner than he had expected. Staring at the ceiling he sighed again, then sat up as he swung his legs over the side of the cot. He sat there scrubbing his hands across his face and yawned again.

He stood to walk over to the bars and leaned on them with one shoulder. His father, brothers, and three of his four deputies were all yelling at Roy at once. Adam shook his head and smiled, highly amused, but took pity on the sheriff and whistled his loud, piercing whistle to get their attention.

Everyone instantly shut up and turned to look at him. "Hey, I'm trying to get some sleep back here," Adam said then laughed at their expressions. Almost as one, the entire group rushed up to the cell and everyone except Ben started talking at once again.

"Quiet!" he shouted and looked at Hoss first, "How's Thea?"

"Madder than a wet hen, but Matt says she's all right," Hoss answered him.

"Good. Nate where's Jon?"

"Waiting for the district judge to get here, he's trying to get you released."

"I appreciate his efforts, but it's not going to work. The judge won't sign the order before the prosecuting attorney gets here to either contest it or agree. Let's just hope it's not Dave Jefferson's turn to represent the people this time."

"Is he the attorney that sent those men to take Olivia back to San Francisco?" Ben asked.

Adam nodded, "If it is, this will not be resolved quickly. He'll use whatever he can think of to further his career and make me suffer as long as he can for revenge. Dave's always been like that."

"I don't understand this," Joe said, "Both Thea and Matt said you never left the office, so what are you doing in here?"

"What Thea said won't be taken into account - she's my wife. But Matt will have to be questioned by the prosecuting attorney before I can be released or indicted." He looked toward the door when he heard it open. Jon came in and walked toward the group in front of Adam's cell.

The young man's face showed his frustration and disappointment at not being able to get the order for Adam's release. He stopped to look up at his boss. "I'm sorry," he simply said.

Adam smiled at him, "Don't worry, Jon. You had to try even though you didn't have a hope in hell of it working." Jon smiled back for a moment, but then his smile faded.

"I found out who the prosecutor will be," he said quietly.

"Don't tell me, Dave Jefferson."

Jon shook his head, "No, it's even worse - Roger Fowler."

Adam let his head fall forward and banged his forehead on the bars.

"When did that crook get back on the circuit?" Nate asked.

"Two weeks ago," Jon answered.

"Damn," Adam said then looked up at his father. "Well Pa, it's been nice knowing you," he said and shook his head at this turn of events.

"Who's Roger Fowler?" Ben asked, alarmed by what his oldest son had said.

"Only the slimiest, most corrupt attorney you would ever NOT want to meet," Adam answered him.

"Adam helped to investigate him years ago, but he paid a lot of people off and witnesses disappeared so he never was prosecuted. But he WAS demoted and still holds him responsible," Nate explained.

"Damn," Adam said again, "I wouldn't put it past him to manufacture evidence against me."

Mike spoke up, "Then I guess we will just have to make sure that doesn't happen."

Jon looked at him with a scowl. "And just how are we supposed to do THAT genius?"

Mike looked at Adam and when their eyes met they both laughed.

"It's simple - all we have to do is find out who really did it before Fowler gets here," Mike said.

"Gee, why didn't I think of that?" Jon said sarcastically as Adam shook his head.

"Well boys, you have your assignment. Find out who did this before I swing for it." The other three deputies stared back at him dismayed. "And if I were you, I'd start by taking a look in that cell and the area under the window outside," he prodded them. Nate and Jon went into the next cell while Mike and Dylan went out the back door.

Adam raised his eyes to heaven then looked at his father. "Pa, I need your help. I want Matt to be sure to retrieve the bullet that killed Mueller before anything is done with the body. He's the only doctor available to do the post-mortem so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Anything else?" his father asked, ready to go do as Adam requested.

"No, not right now, but I'm sure I'll think of something later."

"I'll be back," Ben said and hurried away.

"Now, as for you two," Adam said to Hoss and Joe, "I need you to go out there and talk to as many people as you can. Somebody must have seen something and maybe they don't even realize that what they saw was important. But be careful and let them know we would 'appreciate' their help without actually saying a reward has been offered." He paused for a moment, "Do you think you can handle that?'

Joe and Hoss were nodding as Mike and Dylan came back inside.

"Whoever shot Mueller must have been short. You can see that something was dragged under the window then dragged away," Mike reported.

"Good," Adam said. "Get Roy outside and show him." The two deputies hurried off as Nate and Jon finished looking over the other cell.

"Whoever the short person was, they must have been one hell of a shot," Nate was shaking his head. "The angle from the window to the bunk is difficult to begin with, but to hit him with one fatal shot to the head is pretty damn good."

"So we're looking for a short sharp-shooter," Adam grinned. "That person shouldn't be too hard to find."

His deputies grinned back as he turned to his brothers.

"Well, that's another thing you can see if anyone has something to say about around town," Adam said. "You better both get moving, we don't have a lot of time to work with."

"We'll do our best," Joe said and the two of them left.

Roy came back in with the two deputies and he stopped in front of the cell. "They're right," he said.

"I'm sure you would have noticed too Roy, they just got there first."

The sheriff looked back at the man in the cell and said, "I don't care who solves this or how - I just want to see you walk out of there a free man."

"Thank you," Adam said and held his right hand out to the sheriff through the bars.

"You're welcome," Roy said as they shook hands, then he moved away and went back to his desk.

The four deputies stood in a line in front of Adam and waited for him to speak. He surprised them by saying, "Jon, if you are going to be my legal representative you need to withdraw from this investigation right now. I'm sure the acting director will grant your request." It took a moment for Nate to realize he was now the acting director.

"Uh...sure," he said as Adam shook his head.

"Since you are no longer on active duty as of this moment Jon, I want you to go to my house and keep an eye on things there. I also want you three to keep checking on Thea. Not only to keep her safe, but to keep her out of trouble. If I know my wife, and I do, she should be up to something soon. Even her injuries won't slow her down."

Realizing Adam was finished the four men started toward the door, but turned back when he spoke again.

"Hey...you idiots be careful. Dealing with family members bent on revenge is the most dangerous thing you can get into."

"We will," Nate said and the other three just smiled at him before filing out the door.

Adam looked at Roy, "Don't worry, there's not one single piece of real evidence against me."

Roy nodded, but still looked worried and opened his mouth to say something when Ben returned.

"Did Matt get the bullet?"

"Yes, he had it already when I got there, and you're not going to believe this. That bullet came from a rifle," Ben said and watched his son's expression change as he got that faraway look in his eyes. He turned away from his father and began to pace in his cell, deep in thought.

Ben and Roy glanced at each other. "Does he do this much?" Roy asked.

"Frequently," Ben answered. "We better sit down, this could take a while."

But the two men had no sooner sat down than Adam stopped pacing and said, "It fits -I thought I was crazy for thinking this, but if my memory is correct then I know who killed Abe." He looked at his father, "But no one will ever believe it."

"Why not?" Ben asked.

"I'll explain that later," Adam said. "Bring your chair over here, I need to poke around in your memory." He sat down cross-legged on the end of the bunk facing the bars. Ben brought his chair over and sat down facing him. They leaned toward each other and Adam spoke first.

"Now I seem to remember a story I've heard only a few times about a death by shooting that occurred around forty years ago..."

Thea was much more than irritable. She was furious because she felt completely useless, unable to help her husband. All she could manage to do was pace for a little bit until the pain in her ribs threatened to make her pass out. She had finally driven Matt out of his own office, and she had done it on purpose.

As soon as the door closed behind him she started to swear under her breath. She cursed Abe Mueller with every objectionable word she had ever heard and in every language she knew. The list was formidable. She finally stopped for breath and jumped, badly startled when she heard a voice coming from the doorway.

Turning around she saw two petite old women, so old they almost looked exactly alike.

"My goodness Sadie," the one with blue eyes said, "I haven't heard language like that since my Abner passed on."

"I don't think I've EVER heard language like that, Hannah," the woman with brown eyes said admiringly.

"She does do that very well, don't you think?" Hannah said and smiled at Thea.

Sadie nodded and Thea smiled as best she could. "Can I help you?"

"We've come to help you, dear." Sadie looked at Hannah and their smiles disappeared. "You see, I'm Gretchen's mother and Hannah here is Abraham's mother."

The younger woman's face lost all expression, and she didn't respond.

"We have something to tell you, but you have to promise first that you'll do what we say. It's the only way we can think of to keep any more killing from happening, especially that handsome husband of yours."

Thea looked intently from one old face to the other a few times and decided they were really trying to help. She moved slowly behind her desk and painfully sat down, then rested her misshapen hands on the desktop. "I promise," she said and the two women pulled chairs in front of her desk and sat down.

"We've been hearing the men in our family talking about taking this situation into their own hands," Hannah said, her blue eyes sparking with anger.

Sadie sighed, "And Aaron is the one that's stirring them up."

Hannah nodded, "I hate to say it, but my boys have been nothing but a disappointment to me for most of my life," she said sorrowfully. "It's all their father's fault, you know. He taught those boys to be just like him, then died leaving me to try and keep them in line. But nothing ever worked with those two."

"Shouldn't we be telling Roy about this right now?" Thea asked.

"No dear." Sadie shook her head, "Men started this mess and as usual, it'll be women who are going to clean it up."

The two leaned forward in their chairs and began to explain to Thea what they wanted her to do.

By the time they were finished Thea was looking at them with respect. "You're right, this is the only way we can stop them without anyone else getting hurt."

"We hope so," Hannah looked closely at Thea. "Oh Sadie, it just tears my heart out to see what Abe did to this pretty face." She hung her head.

"I'm sure it does," Sadie said and put her arm around the other woman's shoulders. "Many's the time I've seen my own daughter looking like that."

Hannah sniffed and looked up at Thea again. "I'm so sorry he did this to you, child. But he won't be doing anything to any other helpless woman again now."

"I'm sorry," Thea said quietly.

"No reason for you to be sorry, you didn't do anything," Hannah said, as she seemed to pull herself together. "And neither did that husband of yours."

"I know," the younger woman tried to smile at them. "You just leave the rest of this to me," she said. "And please stop by the post office as soon as possible on your way home and ask Barbara to come see me."

"We will," Sadie said and Thea just sat there while the two women left, leaning on each other. She shook her head as she moved to the office window. The two of them had just started to cross the street and Thea watched impatiently as they slowly made their way across, up the sidewalk, and finally entered the post office.

A moment later Barbara came hurrying out the door. Thea turned and went back to her desk.

When her friend burst through the front door Thea tried to smile again as the other woman hurried toward her. "Has something else happened? What's going on?"

"Nothing has happened - yet - and that's what I need your help with." Thea nodded to one of the chairs in front of the desk. Slightly out of breath Barbara dropped into one and looked at the other woman expectantly.

"The Muellers are planning on breaking into the jail and dragging Adam off to hang him."

Barbara jumped up, "Then what the hell are we sitting here for!"

"Because Hannah Mueller and Sadie Sharpe would only tell me if I promised to take care of this their way."

The other woman narrowed her eyes as she slowly sat back down. "And just what is 'their' way?"

"Ah, that's where YOU come in. I need you to be my messenger," Thea said and proceeded to tell Barbara the plan the two old ladies had come up with. By the time she was finished Barbara was smiling and nodding her head.

"Well, I guess I better get moving. I'll report back as soon as I can," the tall woman said and rushed out the door.

Thea sat back as she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth against the pain in her ribs. When she opened her eyes Matt was standing near the open door. "Is it safe to come in?" he said and Thea nodded.

"I'm sorry," she said and tried to stand, but couldn't.

He came forward to help her up and tugged her toward the other room. "You need to lay down, you're not going to get any better like this."

"I know, but I'll have plenty of time for that after Adam is free."

He looked down at the battered woman in his arms who could hardly stand and said, "And just what do you think you can do about it in this condition?"

Thea laughed very softly, "You'd be surprised, Matt. Believe me, you'd be surprised."