Chapter 16

The trip to Ely was long and tiring and Jarrod was glad to get off the train there. He had been to Ely before but only once, and he really didn't remember the place except that it was a lonely desert town and the sidewalks were taken in at nightfall. Fortunately, nightfall hadn't come yet when Jarrod's train arrived, and it wouldn't for a while.

He remembered where the sheriff's office and jail were, and he went straight there. Only the sheriff was there behind his desk. It was a tiny office with no cell block, just one cell with one man in it. Both the sheriff and the prisoner looked up at him when he came in.

Jarrod glanced at the man in the cell, then looked at the sheriff when he asked, "Can I help you?"

"My name is Jarrod Barkley," Jarrod said. "Is this man Dion O'Doul?"

The man in the cell looked more firmly at Jarrod then.

"Are you kin to the Barkleys who got him arrested?" the sheriff asked.

"I'm their brother," Jarrod said. "I represent my family. We hold stock in the Barkley Sierra mine where O'Doul was picked up. I need to talk to him about what he was doing there."

The sheriff waved a hand toward the cell. "Go ahead."

The sheriff didn't move but only went back to whatever it was he was working on at his desk. Jarrod walked up to the cell and eyed O'Doul, who stared hard back at him, but then broke into an ugly smile. "You're Heath's brother too, are ya now?"

"I am," Jarrod said. "I want to know who sent you to Lonesome."

"Who sent me? Does that matter? I did nothing illegal in Lonesome," O'Doul said.

"I'm not saying you did," Jarrod said. "I have no interest in you. Whatever goes on with you now happens here, for what you did here. I need to know what happened in Lonesome."

"Nothin' happened," O'Doul said. "I came to organize the workers but I never got the chance."

"Someone sent you there," Jarrod said.

"What makes ya believe that?" O'Doul asked.

"You didn't just stumble onto the place. There wouldn't be any way you'd know to go there without someone sending you. I want to know who. I want a name. I think I know what it is, but I need to hear it from you."

O'Doul turned away, chuckling. "You're barkin' up a leafless tree, Brother Barkley," he said.

And Jarrod nearly flipped. "What did you call me?"

O'Doul turned back. "You're the brother and your name is Barkley, isn't it?"

A logical answer, but something in it was shaky. O'Doul looked uncomfortable, like he had slipped and knew it. With a mix of relief and joy, Jarrod thought O'Doul had just said the most important thing he was going to say.

Jarrod decided not to hit it straight on just yet, not until he was absolutely certain. "Did our uncle send you to Lonesome?"

"Your uncle? What uncle?" O'Doul asked.

"James Barkley," Jarrod said. "The man you mentioned to Heath when you were both in Lonesome. You found out about him somewhere. I'm betting you knew him and he sent you to Lonesome."

"Ya lose that bet, Barkley," O'Doul said.

Now Jarrod was sure of what he knew and he let himself smile. He remembered thinking who might have an interest in getting Chinese strikebreakers into Lonesome because they were cheaper. To get strikebreakers in, you have to have a strike. Who would have wanted a strike? He had everything figured out the right way now. His smile grew with the nasty reality.

"Sam Hummel sent you," Jarrod said.

Now O'Doul flinched. He opened his mouth to say something.

But Jarrod interrupted. "Only one other man in this world calls me Brother Barkley, and that's Sam Hummel, chairman of the Board of Directors of Barkley Sierra. You know Sam Hummel, and somehow my name came up when he got you to move in at Lonesome, to organize and start a strike –"

Something else dawned on Jarrod, something that appeared in O'Doul's face. Something diabolical that made Jarrod's smile almost start to dance. "And I'll bet it never occurred to you that he was doing that just so he could break the strike with cheaper labor. You probably didn't even know he was chairman of the board. He probably worked my uncle Jim Barkley into it somehow too, to make it look like he was the one behind you. Sam Hummel played you like a fiddle and you never even knew it."

O'Doul turned away with an ugly look on his face. Jarrod knew he had hit every nail right on the head now. It was Sam Hummel behind all this, not Jim Barkley.

Jarrod was still smiling when he turned away and headed for the door, saying, "Thanks, Sheriff. I know what I need to know."

"You don't want this guy for anything in California?" the sheriff called after him.

"No!" Jarrod replied as he started to close the door behind him. "He's all yours!"

XXXXXX

Jarrod sent a wire home to Stockton before he caught the next train out of Ely, saying he'd seen O'Doul but had to go back to San Francisco before coming home. It was another long trip back to San Francisco but Jarrod was energized this time. When he got to San Francisco, it was midmorning and he headed straight to the stock exchange, because he knew Sam Hummel would be there. And he was.

Jarrod lit a cigar before he approached the old buzzard, and stopping beside him, he blew smoke into Hummel's face. "Uncle Sam'l, I've come to collect that greasy hide of yours."

Hummel waved the smoke away. "What do you want now, Barkley?" he asked, no "Brother" attached.

"I saw one Dion O'Doul in Ely, Nevada," Jarrod said. "I know you got him to go to Lonesome to organize the workers and start a strike. I'm gonna give you until close of business today to call another meeting of the Board of Directors of Barkley Sierra at two o'clock tomorrow afternoon, where you will tender your resignation from the Board of Directors and you will tell them why, or I will be telling them."

The shrunken old man seemed to shrink even more.

"I don't know how you thought you'd get away with it, Sam," Jarrod said, no "Uncle Sam'l" now.

Hummel said, "As I told you, my job is to maximize profits and the return on the shareholder's investments – " He looked at Jarrod. "Even yours. I will do that in any legal way I know, and I've done nothing illegal now."

"You've done enough to disqualify yourself from the position you hold at Barkley Sierra," Jarrod said. "I'll see you and the Board at your office tomorrow afternoon, or the board members will be seeing me in their offices one by one."

Jarrod turned and walked out, feeling like everything was finally together, settled, and things at Lonesome stood the best chance of turning around than they ever had. But once in the street, he stopped. He frowned. He thought of something.

Where was Uncle Jim?

XXXXX

"I don't know where he is," Jarrod had to tell his family when he finally got home to the Barkley ranch. "I went to his hotel – he had checked out. I checked with the stock exchange – he had finally sold all his stock in Barkley Sierra – it had gone up a bit so I guess that's why he did it when he did."

"But he didn't have anything to do with O'Doul?" Heath said.

"Not a thing," Jarrod said. "It was Sam Hummel who conned O'Doul into going to Lonesome Camp, nobody but Hummel. He resigned from the Board of Directors and they elected David Smythe Chairman. He's a local attorney. He's consulting with the Board and I gave him an extra week to work out a plan for Lonesome Camp. It might take some time but he'll get everything set right at Barkley Sierra."

"And Sam Hummel is finished," Victoria said.

"No, no," Jarrod said, "only at Barkley Sierra. Talking O'Doul into going to Lonesome wasn't enough to call a crime, and he's not on any other board. He still has his money and he probably isn't too sorry to be retiring from running a company."

"And O'Doul?" Heath asked.

"He's clean in California, as far as I know, but he'll have to pay for Nevada. Part of that is up to you, Heath – it's your name he used."

Heath shook his head. "I don't have to do anything about that, do I?"

"No, not if Nevada doesn't pursue him for impersonating you, and they won't if you don't pursue it. Shall I let them know you don't want to?"

Heath nodded. "I need to think about it, Jarrod. It looks like Dion will be paying with or without me."

"And Huddleston will be paying too," Victoria said.

Jarrod nodded solemnly. "He comes before a grand jury tomorrow, but you already know that, Heath, right?"

Heath nodded. "I'll be there."

"Have you talked to Huddleston?" Victoria asked.

Jarrod shook his head. "His lawyer won't let anyone talk to him. Maybe I'll be able to talk to him after he's indicted, but it's hard to say. I know if he were my client, he wouldn't be saying a thing to anyone, ever."

"I still want to get my hands on Uncle Jim," Nick said, half growling.

"I'm hoping you never get the chance," Victoria said. "I'm hoping he's out of our lives for good."

"I can have Pinkerton try to find where he's gone," Jarrod said, "and keep an eye on him, if you want that."

Victoria sighed. "I don't know what I want, except I want this family to go forward." She looked at Heath. "All of this family."

Heath nodded. "I reckon I'm in it for the long haul."

Jarrod laughed and slapped Heath on the back – just as Audra and Eugene came into the house from outside. They had been tending Jarrod's horse and Audra was saying, "They mistreated your horse in town, Jarrod! He hasn't had a bath in days!"

"You took care of that, I'm sure," Jarrod said.

"Are you home now for a while?" Eugene asked.

Jarrod nodded. "I'm home now for a while."

"Unless you want to join a cattle drive with us," Nick said. "Do you good to eat some dust."

"I'm a lawyer," Jarrod said. "I only eat crow, and I don't intend to eat either dust or crow for a while."

Victoria gave him a kiss and said, "I'm glad."

Nick said, quietly and earnestly, "I still want my hands on Jim."

Jarrod said, "I don't know if you'll ever get the chance. Only time will tell."

"I'd love to force it to tell," Nick said.

Victoria gave him a kiss too. "The future is the future and not ours to know, Nick. Right now – let's just go forward, one step at a time."

Nick gave a nod – reluctantly.

The End