Ethan looked at Burke and Buster who stared back at him. They stood there with their attitude and their guns and he had no use for either one of them. But he couldn't get rid of either one of them, not without evidence that they were engaging in bad behavior.
Martha saw the tension between them and smiled at Ethan.
"Good morning…I understand my father's security men have something to say to me."
Ethan grimaced.
"Don't tell me it's another rash of crimes."
Martha looked over at the men who shook their heads. Buster spoke up.
"There was a minor theft," he said, "but we think it's children…just a sign stolen off of the shoe store."
Ethan noted that but crimes like that happened from time to time but they seemed to have become more common lately. He guessed that the owner of that business and other merchants would be hit with increases in the money they'd have to pay Darrin for his security.
"You all being in town doesn't seem to have slowed the crime rate," Ethan noted, "In fact it seems to have increased."
The men didn't look happy that he pointed that out. Burke frowned at him.
"What are you saying? You think we're causing it?"
Ethan just looked at him.
"Just making an observation," he said, "Only you can answer your questions."
Now Burke looked angry and Ethan noticed it didn't take him long to get there. That could signal trouble in a job where sometimes you had to be icy calm when dealing with outlaws. Buster seemed to be calmer than his partner.
"Ethan I know you're not happy with our being in town but there's nothing you can do about it," Buster said, "We don't work for you."
"You don't work for the merchants either," Ethan said, "You work for Darrin Wyatt."
Buster and Burke looked at each other and Martha cleared her throat.
"That's true Ethan in that they take direct orders from my father," she said, "but they do really work for the merchants as well."
Ethan sighed.
"I suspect the rates are going to increase again…like they do whenever a crime gets reported."
She just smiled at him.
"Cost of doing business Ethan. You must be very familiar with that yourself."
Buster chimed in.
"I don't think you work for free do you?"
No he didn't, but his salary had been fixed even as it bought less than it had one year ago. He still made enough off his ranch thanks to Claire and the boys to pay off most of the mortgage but when times were tough, they still struggled. But then so did most everyone else in Paradise.
"Marshals get paid but there are conditions attached," he said, "and the town knows the background of the person they hire."
"Come on Ethan. You had a checkered past at best," Buster said, "Who are you to judge us?"
Ethan sighed.
"I'm not judging anyone. I am saying that I don't know enough about either one of you or the others to be able to judge and that goes for everyone in this town…including the people who hired you."
Martha just narrowed her eyes at him.
"What is there to know," she said, "My father had people look into where they came from, who hired them previously. These are good honest men, hard workers Ethan."
"I don't know them from any other stranger who shows up in Paradise," Ethan said, "Especially the latest two to arrive in town."
Burke pursed his lips.
"You mean me Ethan? I worked for some of the most powerful men in San Francisco and other cities. They trusted me and if they did that should be good enough for you."
"It's not…I don't base my judgments on whether or not a man pleased some big shot someplace else."
Martha didn't look happy and Ethan couldn't do anything about that. He meant what he said, that he didn't trust any of these men. If he had his way…but he didn't and until they did something wrong his hands were tied. He didn't like that feeling at all but what could he do about it?
"Honestly Ethan…I'm really trying to understand but why can't you accept that the merchants feel they need additional security? Really between you and that reporter…"
Ernie Buckley, Ethan had a few choice words about him as well.
"Did he talk to you?"
She nodded.
"Yes he asked me about Bella and other things…like Warrick…a young man murdered in San Francisco some months ago."
Ethan's brows shot up.
"What did you tell him?"
"That I knew nothing about it of course," she said, "That happened in some other city far away."
Ethan looked over at the two armed men.
"You came from there," he said, "You know anything about what happened?"
Buster and Burke looked at each other.
"I read about it," Burke said, "That reporter did some stories on it for a while."
Buster shrugged.
"I heard about it from the reporter," he said, "Some outlaw did it…Daggett the guy that our boss tells us to look out for."
Ethan rubbed his forehead. He knew that Daggett hadn't murdered Warrick but he kept that to himself.
"He seems awfully interested in it still," he said, "and the case is unsolved."
Burke shrugged.
"They had a lot of killings like that in San Francisco," he said, "Few get solved but you can believe that this one was done by Daggett and his gang."
Ethan heard how adamant the man sounded but then the reporter had initially believed that the outlaw had done it. Martha smiled at all of them.
"I'm sure that what happened hundreds of miles away some months ago has nothing to do with anything here," she said, "If this Daggett and his gang show up, Ethan you're going to need help dealing with them."
Ethan didn't want this kind of help.
"We'll discuss it over dinner tonight."
He shook his head.
"I'm taking the children to dinner at Bella's ranch tonight."
She dimmed her smile a bit.
"Oh…well how about lunch? We have to discuss some of my father's plans for security for Founder's Day. He won't be joining us but he told me most of the information already."
Ethan nodded but his mind couldn't leave the suspicion that somehow what had happened in San Francisco had arrived in Paradise.
Amelia rode to the post office and dropped off some mail after buying postage. She decided to drop by the mercantile and walked down the street. A guard was standing outside, Simon she remembered as his name.
Axelrod just looked at her as did Matilda who'd dropped by as well.
"Amelia…what a nice surprise," Matilda said, "What brings you here?"
"I have to pick up a few things," she said, "that might be good for Founder's Day decorations."
Matilda pursed her lips.
"Oh Amelia, you know that Martha's in charge of it."
"Yes I do and in fact I'm joining her for lunch as part of a planning session," she said, "I have a few ideas."
"Martha has it all planned out already."
"I know but she's never done one of these events in Paradise before," Amelia said, "She'll need more help than she realizes."
Axelrod frowned.
"I think Martha and her father have done wonderful things in town," he said, "They're trying to help us better our businesses."
"Perhaps Axelrod but at what price…how much money are you paying on this security?"
He just looked at her as if she were being difficult.
"Amelia, some money paid down now will be returned in much greater amounts later on," he said, "It's called making an investment and I'm surprised you didn't know that."
"I do. I ran a bank remember? But there are sound investments and there are foolish ones and I'm concerned about not seeing enough of the former and too much of the latter."
Axelrod grumbled.
"Your opinion but we believe otherwise," he said, "You know you changed when you started living with outlaws."
She sighed knowing there was no way to convince Axelrod and some of the others that Bella had walked away from that life for good.
"I changed before that Axelrod," she said, "Now I've got a list of things to pick up here."
She gave it to Axelrod and he went to fill it out. Matilda just looked at Amelia but she'd never approved of her going back to even before she and Ethan had started seeing each other. Back when she'd still been officially married with a husband who had been long gone.
"So what do you think of this reporter showing up here?"
Amelia shrugged.
"I think he's here to get a story and I think he'll do anything to get it," she said, "but other than that I have nothing to say about it."
"I heard that he talked to you."
"He asked some questions and I answered them," Amelia said, "but he did that with quite a few people."
"Did that woman really kick him off her ranch?"
Amelia didn't want to answer that question but knew if she didn't, Matilda would gossip to most of the town about it.
"Yes…but he was trespassing."
Axelrod returned with some of the items and Amelia felt relief fill her. She didn't like the scrutiny that some people like Matilda were giving her and that it led back to Martha. But she said nothing and she paid for her items and then left to go do some errands before joining that woman for lunch. Not looking forward to it at all but she had been involved in most of the celebrations for Founder's Day when they'd been held. She could put her feelings for Martha aside for a while.
Ethan met Martha at the saloon and they were led to their table.
"Oh Ethan…this morning…this event," she said, "And I just remembered I'm supposed to meet Amelia for lunch…you don't mind if she joins us do you?"
Ethan didn't mind at all.
"No…why are you two meeting?"
"Oh just to finalize the plans for the Founder's Day celebration," she said, "Amelia's my assistant."
Amelia had led the organization of past celebrations and he wondered how she'd feel about having Martha do it. But then she'd had more important things to deal with lately, it might be good at her to stay involved in its planning.
"She'll be a great help. She's done it during past celebrations."
"I hope so…there's so much left to do…"
Ethan looked over at the doorway and saw Amelia walk in the door and look around the room. When she saw them her eyes widened and he knew she hadn't expected to see him. But she walked over and Martha gestured at her to sit down.
Amelia did that across from Ethan and Martha all business started talking about the planning but the two of them didn't pay much attention.