Counterfeit

Chapter 16

Josiah Colter was not a stupid man, if that had been the case he would not have the successful business that brought him in so much money. Once he knew that the John Weeks he had been hoping to do business with was not who he claimed to be, he set wheels in motion to find out who he really was. At first he thought the man must be another agent from the secret service, but from contacts he had in Washington that did not seem to be the case.

He couldn't help but see how that boy Taylor eyed Jennifer and knew he wanted to take her and make her his wife. Colter could use this as a big enticement, promising she would be his once they found her. He knew that was not going to be good for Jennifer, she was scared of the man – but he easily convinced himself that Jennifer was almost a grown woman now and must learn to accept her place in life.

The key to finding Jennifer was finding the tall man. That would be his deal with Mr. William Taylor.

William Taylor may have been a young man without good looks who had a surly attitude and could be even lazy and slovenly at times, but he did recognize something he wanted when he saw it. Colter's niece was something he wanted very much. He felt he had such power over her. She feared him and that made him feel good.

Taylor moved relatively freely around the offices in Washington as he collected necessities for the printing press. Surprisingly, in spite of his bad attitude towards work, he had a good brain and a tenacious ability to go after what he wanted and he really wanted that beautiful young girl. Colter had offered the ultimate prize and he was going to win it. He would apply all his talent and initiative to find the information that the Boss requested.

He found out that the tall man had first been seen in the company of Mr. Nathanial Quartermaine, who he knew was in some way connected to the Secret Service. Although he wasn't sure what role that man played in the organization it didn't really matter. From there he found that Quartermaine had been seen many times in the offices of Mr. Charles Devens. To begin with Taylor had no idea who Devens was either, but a little research soon revealed that he was the Attorney General, and as such he controlled the US Marshal's service. That was interesting. The man who had been hanging around the printing shop could well be a US Marshal, he hadn't been wearing a badge or anything but he did have an undeniable air of authority about him that some lawmen possessed. Now that would surely be a piece of information Colter would like to have. He just knew the pretty young dark haired girl was his. Colter would have to give him the prize now.

He tried asking the printer Milton Carney about the man who had spent time in the printing office. He even went so far as to improve his own skills, having everything ready for the press to roll and showing more interest in his work. In spite of all this effort he got nothing out of Carney and he could only assume the old man was too stupid to know anything useful anyway. At least he had some information for Colter – the connection with the Marshal's Service. Claiming illness he took a few days off from the printing office and made his way to Richmond to deliver his findings to the Boss.

-XX-

Colter became quite excited when he heard the news. A US Marshal, that made sense. He didn't know how many US Marshal's there were, but the man who had pretended to be Weeks would stand out in any crowd. Colter had contacts all over the country. Many bands of crooks, thieves and swindlers owed him some type of loyalty. By putting out the word – together with a reward – he should have an answer soon, and when he found the man he was looking for, he knew he would also find that ungrateful girl. No-one got the better of Josiah Colter.

It was several days before Colter heard from men he sent to St. Louis. He had thought that any man trying to flee from the big city's on the east coast would have to travel west and St. Louis was a location served by many rail roads. His men had boarded several trains heading in that direction looking for the tall man and the young girl. It should be an easy combination to spot. They told Colter how they had located Weeks on a train just east of St. Louis. There had been a fight and one of their number had been pushed from the train and killed by that John Weeks. On the other hand they were certain they had put a bullet in him and he was probably dead by now. There had been no sign of the girl, they had searched the train thoroughly and were certain she had not been aboard.

That same day he got a reply to his offer of a reward. A simple wire from a man in Garden City Kansas, just a line that read, "Marshal Matt Dillon, Dodge City, Kansas." That was one town where he had no contacts. Since Dillon had moved in a few years ago they had all left or where now in prison, one had even been hanged. He certainly had a score to settle with Dillon if he was still alive.

Through a series of wires with the contact in Garden City he learned that indeed Dillon had not been seen in Dodge for several months. He also leaned that Dr. Adams, the only physician in town, had recently left by train and was headed for St. Louis.

That is where he needed to be. It was more than 800 miles away, even by fast train that would be at least three days travel, but it would be worth it. He reasoned that it was no coincidence for a doctor to be travelling to St. Louis – it had to mean that Dillon was alive, and that girl was most likely with him and possibly the precious plates from his printing press.

TBC