The Outlaws: Rafe (24 page)

"'Morning, Miz Baxter.
 
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your husband is dead."

She raised anxious eyes to him.
 
"I know.
 
Cady brought the news this morning."

 
"When was the last time you saw your husband?
 
You and Baxter did get hitched yesterday, didn't you?"

"We were married at the parsonage yesterday morning," Angela intoned dryly.
 
"The last time I saw him was early this morning.
 
He rose before dawn.
 
He said there was something in the mine he'd forgotten to do."

The lies rolled easily from her tongue.
 
She was still confused and undecided about Rafe's part in Baxter's murder but common sense told her not to mention Rafe's name.
 
She felt morally obligated to give him the time he needed to get as far away as possible before the sheriff put two and two together and came up with Rafe Gentry.

"Were you the only two here last night and today?"

Angela couldn't meet his gaze.
 
"To my knowledge.
 
If someone was lurking about I wasn't aware of it."

Diller searched her face.
 
"You seem mighty calm for a new widow."

"I did all my crying before you got here.
 
Besides, Brady and I hadn't known one another very long.
 
Our marriage was one of convenience.
 
I preferred Brady to the man my stepfather chose for me."

Diller nodded, marriages of convenience took place every day.
 
Nothing suspicious or unusual there.

"Whoever killed Baxter did it in cold blood.
 
He never had a chance.
 
He was trussed up and shot point blank."

Angela shuddered and looked away.
 
"I'm sorry.
 
No man should die like that."

Diller gave her a shrewd look.
 
"Any ideas, Miz Baxter?"

"I...no, none at all.
 
Brady must have made an enemy or two during his life."

"You seen Rafe Gentry lately?"

She gave him a startled look.
 
"No.
 
He's probably halfway to California by now."

"I thought you might have seen him recently.
 
He was pretending to be your husband, wasn't he?
 
Everyone thought you two were husband and wife until your stepfather set everyone straight and denounced Gentry for the outlaw he was.
 
Are you sure you didn't know about Gentry's violent past?"

"I was fooled along with everyone else," Angela said.
 
"I haven't seen Rafe since he took off.
 
Why do you ask?"

Diller was no dummy.
 
"I'm thinking that Gentry could be holed up somewhere in the mountains.
 
There's no lack of hiding places."

"Why would he do that?"

"You tell me?"

"I have no idea what you're implying.

"I'm implying that Gentry had a beef with Baxter.
 
From all reports, Gentry is a vicious outlaw who wouldn't think twice about killing a man for revenge.
 
Baxter did bring the law up here.
 
And Baxter married the woman Gentry wanted for himself.
 
That's reason enough in my books."

Diller made it all sound so logical, Angela thought.
 
Though she had mulled those very same things over in her mind herself, she didn't like hearing them from another source.

"I'm sure you're wrong, Sheriff."

"Nevertheless, we have no other suspects, unless we include you, and I don't think you're strong enough or cold-blooded enough to commit murder.
 
So that leaves only Gentry.
 
Looks like we'll be forming a posse again, and adding another murder to the charges pending against Gentry.
 
What shall we do with your husband's body, Miz Baxter?"

"Would...would you please take him to town and see that the undertaker prepares him for burial.
 
I'll ride down later and make arrangements for the funeral.
 
I'll also be looking to hire workers for the mine.
 
You can pass the word around, if you'll be so kind.
 
I want things back to normal as soon as possible."

"Sure thing," Diller said.
 
"I'll take care of everything."
 
They parted, then.
 
Angela entered the cabin and didn't look back as the sheriff, his deputy and Cady draped Baxter's body over his horse for the trip to town.

Baxter's funeral was held the following morning.
 
Angela had gone into town shortly after the sheriff departed and made the necessary arrangements.
 
Baxter was buried in the town cemetery with a few friends and business acquaintances in attendance.
 
From the corner of her eye Angela saw Desmond Dexter and Anson Chandler standing at the rear of the small gathering and she wondered what they had in mind for her now.
 
Then Reverend Porter said the words over the grave and the mourners drifted away after stopping to offer their condolences.

Lawyer Goodman stood beside Angela.
 
While in town yesterday, she had paid him a visit, explaining everything that had happened.
 
She'd told him the truth, leaving nothing out.
 
Including why she had married Rafe and Chandler's determination to get his hands on her inheritance.
 
She explained how the death of Reverend Conrad and loss of records pertaining to her marriage came about.
 
She even told Goodman why she'd gone through with the marriage to Baxter when she knew it was an illegal union.

Goodman had been stunned.
 
His first question had been, "Did Rafe Gentry really kill Brady Baxter?"
 
His second was, "Do you actually believe Gentry guilty of all those crimes?"

"Rafe swore he hadn't robbed that bank, or done those other things of which he's accused," she'd responded.
 
"I'd begun to believe him for he showed no signs of violence.
 
But I know he was the last person to see Baxter alive.
 
Despite the fact that Baxter arranged my father's death and intended to kill Rafe, his death was accomplished in such a cold-blooded way that I could never forgive Rafe were he responsible."

She'd left the lawyer's office a short time later, giving him time to digest everything she'd told him.

Now, following the brief ceremony, he accompanied her back to his office to tie up legal matters arising from Baxter's death.
 
Seated opposite him, Angela stared at her hands.
 
This was all such a mess.
 
Everyone but herself thought of her as Baxter's widow.

"Well, my dear, it looks as if you're sole beneficiary of Brady Baxter's estate."

"But our marriage wasn't legal," Angela insisted.

"I strongly suggest you keep that piece of information to yourself.
 
Baxter had no relatives.
 
You're the logical person to inherit.
 
Besides, your father and Baxter signed a letter of intent before they became partners.
 
I have it in my records.
 
Since Baxter had no relatives, his share was to go to Simon should he not outlive your father.
 
You're your father's heir.
 
And if either you or Simon failed to outlive Baxter, he would become sole owner of the Golden Angel."

"Baxter probably thought marrying me was easier than killing me," Angela mused.
 
"When I turned up with a husband, it probably threw all his plans awry.
 
That's why he planned to do away with Rafe.
 
Of course it didn't hurt that Rafe had a price on his head."

"I still can't believe Baxter was responsible for your father's death.
 
Simon's was on his way to the smelter with a load of ore when his wagon careened over a mountainside.
 
Baxter told everyone the axle broke."

"Believe it," Angela said with a touch of sadness.
 
"At least I have the satisfaction of knowing he was punished for his crime.
 
I'm just sorry his death happened the way it did.
 
I would have preferred to have the law pass final judgment."

"You're a very wealthy young lady, given the health of your father's and Baxter's finances," Goodman said.
 
"You can live the life of luxury the rest of your life, if you'd like."

"I don't want Brady's money," Angela averred.

"Nevertheless, it's yours.
 
You could sell the mine tomorrow and still out you live in comfort.
 
I'll make all the arrangements for the transfer of Baxter's assets into your personal account."

"I don't..."

"Think it over carefully before you refuse," Goodman advised.
 
"The money might do a lot of good somewhere.
 
Take your time, decide what you want to do, then let me know."

A slow smile spread across Angela's face.
 
"You're right.
 
I could found an orphanage, endow a new school, or build a new church.
 
Very well, Mr. Goodman, I'll give your suggestion serious thought."
 
She rose to leave.

"Don't go yet, Angela.
 
What if Rafe Gentry shows up at the mine?
 
You shouldn't be alone out there, you know."

"He won't show up," Angela said with firm conviction.
 
"Not if he values his freedom.
 
As for being out there alone, I intend to hire men to work the mine before I leave town.
 
I posted a sign at the post office this morning.
 
Hopefully I can hire all the men I need today.
 
The foreman can stay in Brady's cabin.
 
He can even bring his family, if he's married.
 
It would be nice to have another woman around."

Goodman sent her a concerned look.
 
"Good luck, my dear.
 
Miners are a stubborn lot.
 
I not sure they'll want to work for a woman.
 
Especially a woman who knows nothing about mining."

"I can learn," Angela said with an assurance she was far from feeling.

Angela walked the short distance to the post office.
 
The sign she had posted earlier asked that men interested in working at the Golden Angel should meet in front of the post office at noon.
 
She was heartened to see about ten men gathered outside the building, gossiping and smoking while they waited.

"I need mine workers," Angela began as she called the men to attention.
 
"Experienced ones."

"Who's gonna pay our wages?" a man asked.

"I am," Angela answered.
 
"You'll receive the going rate for mine work.
 
Perhaps some of you worked for my father and Brady Baxter.
 
I'd be pleased to have you return."

"You gonna be our boss?" a man challenged.

"Since I'm the owner, I'll run things," Angela stated.

"I ain't working for no woman."

"Me neither.
 
Women got no business bossing men around."

The small band of miners started drifting away.

Panic surged through Angela.
 
She had never expected this.
 
"Wait!
 
I'll pay double the going rate."

"Ain't worth it, lady," someone shot back.
 
"Ask again when you put a man in charge."

Damn you.
 
Damn you all, Angela wanted to shout.
 
Instead, she bit her tongue and watched them leave her high and dry without a crew to work the mine.

"I knew you'd have need of me one day," Chandler said as he joined her outside the post office.
 
"They'll work for me.
 
I can pack my things and move out there today.
 
I'll bring workers with me, too.
 
What do you say, Angel?"

"Bring qualified miners and I'll think about it," Angela countered.

Chandler showed up at the mine the following day with ten men and a foreman.
 
It galled Angela to think that most of the men were the very same ones who had refused to work for her the day before.
 
Not only that, but the foreman was Jim Cady, the man who had been Baxter's right hand man.

"I told you I'd get the men you needed," Chandler bragged when Angela walked out to greet him.

"How did you do it?"

Chandler shrugged.
 
"I told them we were going to be married, and that I'd be in charge of operations here."