Bella looked over at Ernie. They were sitting in the saloon eating lunch while he interviewed her or at least that had been his intent.
"So why the interest in me anyway…you know I gave up being an outlaw."
Ernie nodded.
"Yes but few other people believe that. Think of this as your chance to show that you're sincere about your intentions to lead a more honorable life."
She snorted.
"I've always been honorable in ways that matter even as an outlaw."
Ernie chuckled.
"You really haven't changed in every way Bella…"
She shrugged.
"Okay but I'm serious about helping these women," she said, "You knew that back in San Francisco and you knew that some people in powerful positions didn't like it."
Ernie grew sober.
"No they didn't…and yes I'm interested in finding out who killed Warrick. He didn't fit in with the other slayings so he must have been incidental."
Bella sighed.
"He wasn't incidental. He was a very nice and generous gentleman. He'd donated earnings from his business to the center to help out even though he hadn't been in town that long."
"He came out of Chicago and he wasn't the only one."
Bella knew that to be the truth. Some of the most powerful people in San Francisco actually hailed from that city originally. She didn't know when it had happened, perhaps before she had settled there more or less but they'd taken control of large areas of the city including by the harbor.
"The woman that witnessed his death…she's here isn't she?"
Bella didn't say anything because she didn't want Ernie to hassle Amelia who had tried to tell him how cold a murder had been committed against Warrick. Bella knew the police would never care what happened to him let alone investigate it because those in charge of the burgeoning force already knew what had happened.
"She must be with you."
Bella pursed her lips.
"You know how she feels about what you wrote," she said, "You won't get back on her good side anytime soon…"
"I was just doing my job…reporting on a murder."
Bella sighed.
"It wasn't just a murder."
Ernie sipped his drink thoughtfully, clearly savoring his position but Bella knew the guy wasn't all opportunistic reporter; he had a conscience though sometimes it took work to find it. He didn't seem to be bought and sold by the power brokers like others of his kind. He had often claimed that no one owned him but Bella wasn't sure she believed that.
"I don't think Warrick was the victim," Ernie said, "I think he was the witness they didn't want to talk."
Bella nodded.
"He would have talked," she said, "He would have tried to stop anything bad that happened in front of him. Maybe that's what got him killed."
"Maybe…he doesn't have any ties to anyone…except coming from the same city."
Bella took a bite of her food.
"So you interviewed Dylan Daggett for his side of the story?"
Ernie shrugged.
"Yes but he took credit for it…to give himself an image. But he didn't do it. Not that he's not very upset with you for stealing one of his women away from him."
"Liberating her Ernie," Bella said, "She's just a girl and she deserved better than that."
The reporter didn't argue with her on that and she knew that he sympathized with Clara. But he changed the subject.
"Okay so I'm going to talk to Amelia…"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you Ernie," Bella said, "Because I'm the least of your problems now."
His brows arched.
"Oh?"
She nodded.
"Her ex-fiancé will cut you off at the pass if he thinks you're going to hurt her."
"That's not my intention," Ernie said, "I'm just after a story and if that means that someone has to pay for Warrick's murder I can live with that."
Bella shrugged.
"Okay then don't say I didn't warn you about Ethan," she said, "He's the town marshal and I have a feeling you'll be on his bad side soon enough."
"I can handle the marshal…"
"That's not necessarily the side of him you have to worry about," she said, "He's still got feelings for her…and he's very protective."
"I'll keep that in mind."
She chuckled.
"You'd better do more than that if you want to make it back to San Francisco in one piece…"
Ethan sat in Darrin's office listening to him discuss the arrival of two more security men, one of which was in his office.
"This is Burke," Darrin said, "He's one of my top men. Used to work for someone else but he's on loan to me until we get through this crisis."
Ethan didn't like the fact that despite his warnings, Darrin was still bringing more and more of these security men to town, men that Ethan couldn't check out before they arrived here and were being paid by town's people to provide security. This new crime wave of thefts and vandals just attracted Ethan's attention about its origins given that it started not long after Darrin's arrival. Were these men also committing the crimes? Ethan didn't know the answer to that but he knew where his suspicions lie. After all, there were no other suspects, no traffic into and out of town those nights.
"Hi Mr. Cord…"
Burke looked intimidating like he knew how to fight. Ethan just looked at him.
"Where's the other one?"
"You mean Trevor," Darrin said, "He's out patrolling for one of the businessmen."
Burke just stared at him.
"We're here to make sure the businesses are safe," he said, "I heard you had some trouble, thefts and that won't happen now that we're here."
Ethan didn't trust the guy, he didn't trust any of them and he still didn't remain convinced that this was a racket similar to ones found in larger cities. He wondered whether Darrin had set it up or someone else.
"How long you going to be here?"
Burke smiled.
"Long as he needs me here," he said, "Could be a while. Nice little town you got here."
Ethan rubbed the back of his neck.
"We'd like to keep it that way."
Burke smiled again.
"Just here to help you…and the businessmen who pay for our services."
Ethan wondered how much they had paid and figured it had to be some good money to go through the trouble of bringing in men from different places.
Darrin clasped his hands on the desk in front of him.
"You satisfied or do you have other questions?"
Ethan knew he had many of those but he needed to keep them to himself and get his own answers.
Amelia walked into the office where Dakota sat there at the desk.
"Where's Ethan?"
Dakota smiled at her.
"He'll be in soon," he said, "He's meeting with Darrin over his newest security men."
Amelia grimaced.
"I don't trust them," she said, "I saw how it worked in San Francisco."
She didn't want to think about that so she just sat down in a chair next to Ethan's desk to wait for him.
"You need any help?"
She nodded.
"Just to make sure that nothing's come in on Daggett. Clara's finally beginning to settle in and it's been so hard for her."
"Since you and Bella sprung her from Daggett," Dakota said, "Must have really been something."
She shook her head.
"I just had to help her…because she helped me."
Dakota looked up as Ethan entered the room. He smiled when he saw Amelia.
"No news on Daggett," he said, "I checked on the latest wires I sent out."
Amelia nodded.
"I didn't expect anything," she said, "We just don't want any surprises with him."
"I know that…we're keeping a look out," Ethan said, "He won't just show up without us catching him."
She believed him because she knew that Ethan was more than a match for Daggett and if he showed up, Ethan would handle him. She just hoped that Daggett would decide it not to be worth his while.
"The reporter's asking questions around town…"
She nodded.
"I know about Bella…"
"He's also asking about that murder," Ethan said, "Warrick."
She grew silent and just looked down at her hands.
"Amelia…did he ever ask you about that?"
She paused and then nodded.
"I have nothing to say to him," she said, "I…they wouldn't listen to me when it happened. They didn't listen at all and I know why. Because it wasn't someone like Daggett who killed him, it was two of those security men."
That didn't surprise Ethan. There were security men who were more than capable of committing murder even as cold blooded as that one had been.
"You know which one?"
She looked at both Ethan and Dakota.
"Does it matter?"
She knew she'd frustrated him with her answer but she didn't want to talk about it casually. She didn't want to think about it at all.
"You are heading back to the ranch?"
She got up from her chair.
"Yes I am," she said, "I've got work to do and Bella's in town until later tonight."
"I'll go with you," he said, "I want to make sure everything's okay and that man doesn't show up again."
She shrugged.
"I still don't know who he was Ethan but he knew about me."
She knew why but she didn't want to tell him that either. To go down that road…once she started, she couldn't stop and if he knew the truth…he just wouldn't look at her the same. After all, she couldn't do that since…and yet there was so much she wanted to tell him.
"I checked on him today but came up with nothing."
"How did your meeting go?"
He shook his head.
"I didn't trust the new men," he said, "but as long as they got customers there's not much I can do."
She knew that but the whole situation made her uneasy…more than that it scared her and she wasn't a woman used to being scared.