More noise came from up the trail, men drawn by the shots no doubt, and Cord led his crew back into the timber. They rode south, then cut east and west until Cord was satisfied they’d outrun any pursuit.
“We’re clear,” John said after he’d looked over their back trail. “I don’t think anyone even bothered to follow.”
“No reason for them to,” Cord said. “As far as they know, there was nothing to steal but empty wagons.”
Few enough had known about the courier and his cash belt. With the roads to the coast blocked, it would be at least a week before the bankers in San Francisco learned their money had been stolen.
The bank’s agent had been sent to buy up properties along the creek. Cord’s men had discovered him, catching a glimpse of the money belt over a poker game in Onionville, and from there they’d kept a careful watch on him.
No one in the valley had been interested in selling. The prospects were too rich for that. Every fool on that creek thought they’d discovered the mother lode, and so far they’d been right. It would take a lot more than what the bankers offered to buy them out.
The take came to just over seven hundred dollars for each of them. Not bad for a few days’ work. But nowhere near the riches Cord Bannen sought. Still, it would satiate the men. For a time, they would have booze, women, anything else they wanted.
“That’s all of it,” Cord announced when he’d laid out the stacks of cash.
The men took their respective cuts and headed into town with a series of whoops and grins. John stayed behind with Cord.
“It’s good work,” John said. “Easy money.”
“Better than we’ve had,” Cord said. “It’ll keep the lot of them in whiskey and women for a few weeks.”
John grunted agreement.
They’d captured a handful of freight wagons—mainly mining or construction materials—and they sold it for respectable prices. But it wasn’t easy, like cash or gold. To make freight pay, you had to have a buyer, one who asked few questions, like how a group of men who weren’t freighters might come to possess a wagonload of carpentry tools.
John cleared his throat. “It’s a good thing we caught that fellow when we did. Some of the men have been talking.”
Cord arched a brow and waited for him to continue.
“Talking about Jacob and the Swede, Dunlap too.” John was clearly uncomfortable. “Talking about joining up with them outside of Bidwell’s. Hawk heard they’d landed a big score. He heard it in—”
“I don’t care,” Cord said.
“What?”
“I don’t care who said it, or who heard it, or who repeated it. Jacob and his little band will never sniff at any real money.”
John shifted his feet. He clearly wanted to say more.
Cord took a steadying breath. “Go ahead, John. Say what you want to say.”
“A couple of the new men, Hal and Wade, they’re not coming back. They’re headed out to join up with Jacob’s crew.”
“And the others?”
John straightened. “I’ll vouch for the old hands. They’ll stand. But I can’t speak for the new men.”
Cord thought for a moment. He didn’t care how many scores Jacob and his crew took. He didn’t care if the new men, all the new men, left. More men were easy to find and, once he had a plan, he would need more men if he wanted to take the Heston mine. But for now, they were just more mouths to feed.
His thoughts went back to the mine. He couldn’t just seize it, not anymore. They had too many men watching it, and their claims were solid. He needed something. An edge. Something he could trade to get what he wanted.
What did Heston care about? What could be used against him?
Cord struck on an idea then. One he should have considered sooner. One he needed more men to pull off. It was obvious. The mine was guarded, sure enough, but that wasn’t all Jim Heston cared about.
“How many men does he have? Jacob, I mean?”
“Four or five is all I’ve heard. Hal and Wade are not included in that.”
“When are they supposed to join him?”
“A week, maybe two. They’ve got something planned, something too large for his group to handle alone.”
“I think it’s time to pay our old friends a visit.”
“You want me to round up some of the gang? The old bunch, at least?”
“No, I think we’ll take care of this, just you and I. No need to involve them.”
Chapter 26
“It sounds remote,” Ellen said.
She had done her best to listen to her husband. Jim had come in from his trip like a whirlwind, raving about the new ranch site he’d found: the high snowy mountains, the broad sagebrush flats, the endless green grass, the deep lazy rivers, the clear cold streams, and the thick groves of pine and aspen.
Ellen had been patient.
He told her their cattle would grow fat and numerous. “It’ll be the best ranch in California,” he’d said.
