Chapter 9

Jarrod sat down behind his desk, frowning as he reached for the folded paper Davis was handing to him. He took it, unfolded it, read it, and frowned more.

"Is that your brother Heath?" Davis asked.

Jarrod looked at the photo, and at the name under it. "It definitely is not. Heath Thompson is the right name, but this is not the young man who's joined my family. This fellow is older and darker-haired."

"Well, either this guy or the man claiming to be your brother is using Heath Thompson for a name," Davis said.

What Jarrod held was a wanted poster from Ely, Nevada. Heath Thompson – or whatever this man's rightful name was – was wanted for assault and incitement to riot there. Jarrod shook his head. "The Heath Thompson I checked out in Strawberry is the same age as the man who is my brother and is back in Stockton. This fellow is older than that – and I mean noticeably older, and this wanted is what, how old?"

"A year," Davis said. "Have you ever seen this guy before?"

"No, never. But Heath might have. I'd like to take this home with me, Phil."

Davis nodded. "We have another one."

"What about the Dion O'Doul fella? Did you find anything?"

"No, nothing yet."

Jarrod looked at the picture again and nodded to himself. "The charges on this poster sound like something a union organizer might find himself up against. Maybe this O'Doul fella used a different name – like Heath Thompson."

"Just make sure you don't lead your Heath Barkley in that direction when you show him this."

"Oh, I won't," Jarrod said. "If this is that O'Doul fella, using Heath's name, I don't want there to be any doubt about it. Is there anything else you want to tell me right now?"

Davis shook his head.

Jarrod refolded the wanted poster and put it into his inside jacket pocket. "I'm gonna go catch the seven o'clock train to Stockton. I'll wire you about this and let you know what Heath says."

"It might be safer if you overnight a letter to me."

Jarrod said, "If this is O'Doul, I'll want you to know about it right away."

"All right. If it's O'Doul, just say 'it's who we thought.' If Heath says anything else at all, overnight me a letter."

"You haven't found anything on Huddleston?"

"Not a thing," Davis said, "and your uncle hasn't popped up at the market again either lately."

"Have somebody keep an eye out tomorrow, especially on Sam Hummel. I went to see Mayhew, Bryce and Chase today. You know them, don't you?"

Davis nodded. "Only by photos. I never met them."

"They might go see Hummel tomorrow," Jarrod said. "I want to know if any of them does."

"I'll keep watch on Hummel myself," Davis said. "He doesn't know me."

"I'd better get out of here and catch that train."

XXXXXX

Jarrod didn't sleep at all on the train. It was due to arrive by midnight and was only a few minutes late. Stockton was quiet but Jarrod had left his horse at the livery and he could and did take it out himself, leaving a note for the liveryman. Jarrod hurried home as best he could in the dark, even though he was certain no one would be up when he got there, and no one was, except that he ended up disturbing Ciego in the stable. The Mexican had curled up in the loft, as he often did, and he came down when he heard Jarrod come in.

"Senor Jarrod, we weren't expecting you," Ciego said.

"I know," Jarrod said. "Will you take care of my horse?"

"Of course."

Jarrod went into the house to find it dark, except for the light on the stairs that was usually left on. Everyone had gone to bed, so talking to Heath was going to have to wait until morning. It was almost 1 am now. Jarrod poured himself a brandy and sat down in his thinking chair.

The doubts came crawling back with the silence and the brandy. Jarrod kept chasing them off because the likelihood that the man in the photo on the wanted poster was the real Heath Thompson and the man claiming to be his brother was a fake was extremely unlikely. Still, when the brandy crawled in…

Suddenly the room was light and Heath was gently shaking his shoulder. "Jarrod?"

Startled, Jarrod sat up straighter. The light was the sun coming in from the window. "Oh – I guess I fell asleep."

"When did you get in?" Heath asked.

"After midnight," Jarrod said.

"What brought you home so fast? We weren't expecting you."

Just as glad it was Heath standing here alone with him, Jarrod took the wanted poster out of his jacket and gave it to him. "This. Do you know this guy?"

Heath took the poster, unfolded it, and stiffened. "This is Dion O'Doul, but I got no idea why he's using my name. I can take you to Lonesome Camp and you can meet him yourself."

"I'll meet him sometime, but not today," Jarrod said. "It could be he was wanted somewhere else before this business in Ely and that's why he used your name there. I'll wire Pinkerton today and they'll see if they can find a connection."

"In the meantime, I'm wanted in Ely," Heath said.

Jarrod shook his head. "That's no problem, since you don't match the picture. I didn't have any luck getting proxies. Did you and Nick?"

"No. Nick wired you but I guess you didn't get it."

"I'll get my secretary to draw up the proper proxies this morning and I'll take them to the men you saw myself. Then I'll head back to San Francisco and get the rest."

"Why do you think they'll give them to you now?"

"Now we know this union organizer can cause violence. We know it for sure, because he did it in Ely. When I tell them the Barkleys are working to get rid of this guy and current management doesn't even know he's there - that will change the picture."

"What are you gonna do with the proxies if you get them?"

"Force a board meeting," Jarrod said, "and get the Board of Directors to get back to running that mine the way our father promised to run it before the workers organize and force us to do it, or shut the mine down."

"What if the board doesn't do what you want?"

Jarrod got up. "If they don't, I get a new board. With the right proxies I've got the power. I gotta go back to my office in town and get those proxies prepared. Tell Mother and Nick I'm home, but I'll be leaving again."

"Are you going back to San Francisco?"

"On the afternoon train if I can get the proxies in time and make it."

"You're gonna run yourself ragged."

Jarrod stood straighter, smiling. "This is how I get energized, Heath, my boy."

"What do you want me and Nick to do in the meantime? Go get Dion out of the picture?"

"Get the train to Sonora as soon as you can, it runs just before noon," Jarrod said, nodding. "I want you to see Marshal Mullins there – he knows me - and then you and Nick and he go back to Lonesome as fast as you can, and take that wanted poster with you. Get Dion O'Doul off to Ely, and wire me in San Francisco as soon as you've done it."

XXXX

Once he was back in town, Jarrod sent a wire off to Davis saying it's who we thought. Then he went to his secretary's home. She was shocked to see him but when Jarrod told her he needed proxies prepared, she left right away with him and was soon typing in his office.

It didn't take long for her to complete the proxies, because Jarrod had some preprinted with everything but the name of the company and the individual shareholder. That was the only information that need to be typed in. Just after she delivered them to Jarrod, she came back in with a telegram that was just delivered Jarrod thanked her, took it, and read it.

Jarrod went a little ashen. It was from Davis at Pinkerton. "The subject bought 1000 more shares this morning and gave a document to the boss."

Hummel had more proxies. Jarrod did some mental math and knew that if he could get the proxies he was after, it would still get him over the top – as long as the shares Jim had bought did not come from any of the men Jarrod had talked to about getting their proxy.

Jarrod thought quickly. There was one more potential proxy he could go to, if he did it quickly.

"Esther," he told his secretary, "give me one more proxy with this name and have it run out to my home right away." Jarrod started to scribble a note. "If they have questions, I'll be waiting at the train depot when they leave for Sonora."

The new proxy was for the shares Colin Murdoch at the mine held. If Heath and Nick got O'Doul out of the way, Murdoch would be very open to signing this proxy. His proxy would counterbalance the shares Jim bought this morning.

It could all still work – if they were fast and lucky.

XXXXXX

Nick and Heath got Jarrod's note and the proxy just before they left home. Victoria kissed them both good-bye, saying, "Wire me when you can."

They had Ciego drive them to the train depot and they got there with five minutes to spare. Jarrod was waiting on the platform, pacing. "Are you set?" he asked right away. "Any questions?"

"No questions," Nick said.

"But maybe you can wire that Marshal Mullins we're coming," Heath said.

"I already did," Jarrod said. "I got the proxies I needed here in Stockton this morning. I'll be heading to San Francisco on the next train out. Wire me when you can."

"At your office or at your home?" Nick asked.

"Better make it my home," Jarrod said. "I'll probably be there when you get everything straight in Lonesome."

They heard a train whistle coming.

Jarrod offered his hand to Nick and then Heath. "Good luck."

"You too," Nick said, and then quickly added, "and be careful about Uncle Jim. You're driving him closer to desperation, and if he was involved in killing our father, he won't have any trouble killing you."

"That's unlikely, but I'll watch out," Jarrod said. "See you in a few days, I hope."

The train pulled in and Nick and Heath climbed aboard. Jarrod waited to watch the train pull out again, then went back to his office to pack up the proxies to take to San Francisco.