Man of Honor
Chapter Seven
Michael Billings had been right when he said no one would take notice of Mr. Waters, Paul or Henry. Well, not take notice to the point to arouse any suspicion as they rode into town. Because they'd discussed their plans for a solid hour before leaving camp, the three men separated paths once they were in town. Kyle went to the bank, under the pretense of opening an account; Paul went to the sheriff's office, under the guise of being a bounty hunter who simply wanted to look at wanted posters, and Henry walked around town pretending to want to know more about Stockton as 'he was thinking to move there'. Once they were finished with their business the three men met in the saloon and sat in the farthest corner, away from the crowd.
"The bank has only one guard at night." Kyle was grinning from ear to ear. "I think Stockton forgot it's more than a good sized town." While he was speaking he traced the layout of the bank on the table with his finger and explained exactly what plan he was going to hand over to Michael. When it came to Michael's part in the plan, Paul spoke up.
"If anything, he needs to go into the bank from the back." He took another swallow of his beer before continuing. "Sheriff's has a wanted poster of him in his office, name on it's wrong but it's him." The part about the name being wrong bothered Paul and he began talking about it.
"Don't surprise me none." Henry scoffed as he leaned back in his chair. "Michael's gone by so many names, law's probably just picked one and threw it on. After all, no matter what, you can't change the way you look. Well, not unless you want to stay in disguise your whole life." That got all three men to laughing.
As the saloon was quite busy and the noise level was high they were sure no one would be able to hear them as long as they kept their voices low, Kyle, Paul and Henry let their guard down and stopped watching the other patrons. Because of that, Heath entered the saloon and sat near their table without being seen. Had Heath not had such good hearing, he might not have heard anything. As it was, in spite of the noise, he caught a few words which included bank, sheriff and the bit about the wrong name on a wanted poster. Not wanting to attract their attention, Heath simply sipped on his beer and did his best to listen. Only when he saw Nick enter the saloon did Heath stand up and walk towards Nick as fast as he could without attracting any undue attention.
Heath might not have caught the other patrons' attention only Nick knew him well enough to know when something was amiss. "What is it?" Nick asked as Heath walked by him and headed for the door to the saloon.
Only when they were outside and walking down the sidewalk did Heath answer him. "I think I need to go to Jarrod's office." He glanced back toward the saloon and began explaining about the men whom he'd overheard talking. "With the few things I heard, I think there's a chance this Michael they talked about is the man the law should be looking for and, maybe, they're planning to do something when it comes to the bank." He then added, "If I can get Rebecca in a position to see the men when they come out, there might be a chance she might recognize one of them. That is, if they were with this Michel feller when she saw him. Nick would have said something, only he caught sight of Weaver standing near one of the stores watching them. He let out a few choice words and drew Heath's attention to Weaver.
"I'm still going to Jarrod's office." Heath said as he stepped off the sidewalk in order to cross the street. "You do what you want, just don't talk to that man if you can help it."
"I wasn't thinking about talking to him." Nick growled as he turned and headed off in the opposite direction. He hoped that maybe, just maybe, Weaver wasn't aware of Rebecca's presence in Jarrod office and would be stupid enough to think it was him that was up to something and not Heath. After all, Nick figured that, no matter what, he could still lead the man on a wild goose chase.
When Weaver saw Heath and Nick seperate, he thought and did just as Nick had hoped because he indeed had missed seeing Rebecca going into talk to Jarrod. With that being the case, he assumed that Heath had been telling Nick what to do. The Deputy Marshall's choice had Heath chuckling, as the blonde haired cowboy had looked out the window and seen him hightailing it to catch up to Nick. That is, enough that he could keep an eye on him.
~oOo~
Jarrod, Heath and Rebecca sat, or stood, in Fred's office. The three of them were telling the lawman of the newest developments.
"I don't know about the first man who came out of the saloon," Rebecca said as she sat across from Fred while Heath and Jarrod both chose to remain standing, "but the second and third one, the one who looks to be Indian, were the two who were with the man my husband and I saw just before Hank was killed." After she quit talking, a silence reined in the room. Only when Fred picked up a few telegrams and began talking was the silence broken.
"Your friends in the Pinkerton agency," Fred said as he looked at Jarrod, "found the grave Mrs. Wilson told you about. It had the name of Hank Wilson on it. They don't really want to dig up the body and move it if they don't have to."
"Do we have to move it now, Fred?" Heath sat up as he thought on the men in the saloon. "Those men are planning something on the bank, and this Michael they spoke of has got to be the man who the law should have been looking for all along. Why not just keep an eye on the bank? I mean, if it's him, maybe we catch him and corner him about the other crimes. I mean, the ones Mr. Wilson was accused of."
"Sounds good to me Fred," Jarrod looked from Fred to Rebecca and then back to the law man. "Why move a dead man from his resting place if we don't have to?"
The lawman had a tendency to agree only because it seemed like the guilty party was about to walk right into their hands. "I'll wire the necessary people and tell them of these developments, though," Fred answered as he smiled apologetically to the young widow in front of him, "until I actually see Mr. Weaver, I won't be able to talk to him and tell him of all this." He then looked at Heath and Jarrod. "I think you best take Mrs. Wilson back to the ranch. Have your mother and sister keep an eye on her until this is over, and then you two come back here. However, before you leave I'll need you to write a description of all three men down for me."
Heath stood up after Rebecca did as Fred asked and nodded. "I'll do take her home. Come on Rebecca; let's get you back to mother and Audra." Once outside Jarrod back for his office while Heath helped Rebecca up into the buggy. It did not pass by her that people were once again looking at Heath and herself. However, this time she was far too happy to let it didn't bother her. The law now knew she'd been telling the truth when it came to her late husband. As far as she could see, there was nothing else to worry about.