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“And these complaints are generally lodged against the Navaho?” Stephanie said, an angry fire lighting her eyes at the mere thought of the vile, shiftless man. “Aren’t his complaints usually about Sage, Runner, and Thunder Hawk?”
“Sure as hell are,” Colonel Utley said, stuffing his left cheek with a big wad of chewing tobacco. “He’d worn his welcome out here because of it. But now I see that I should’ve paid more attention to what he said. He seemed to know more about the Navaho’s activities than me.”
“How can you say that after what I’ve just told you?” Stephanie asked, her patience running thin. She leaned down toward Colonel Utley’s scruffy face. “You don’t have proof of anything. I do. I heard my brother and Damon laughing about what they did. What proof do you have? Tell me. Do you have absolute proof of Thunder Hawk’s guilt?”
“Not exactly,” Colonel Utley said, shifting his weight nervously in his chair. “But I’ll uncover enough to hang the scalawag Injun.”
“You can’t hold a man behind bars without proof,” Stephanie said, her jaw tight. “I demand that you set Thunder Hawk free.”
“And who made you an expert on the law?” Colonel Utley argued back.
“I know my stepbrother and Damon are responsible for blowing up the train,” she returned sharply. “Why on earth would I say this about my brother if it wasn’t true? I’d do anything on this earth to prove that he couldn’t be that vile and scheming. But I can’t. I heard him and Damon laughing about it. I know that Adam paid him one thousand dollars to do it. Isn’t that enough? I am bringing all of the ugliness of my brother out into the open. Don’t you know that what I am saying is the truth, or I wouldn’t want to put a scar on my family’s reputation?”
“What you say makes a lot of sense,” Colonel Utley said, spitting a stream of tobacco juice into a spittoon beside the desk. “And I do recall someone tellin’ me that a man at the site of the wreck was makin’ a lot of fuss about it bein’ the Indians. It was almost too obvious that he was trying too hard to throw the blame on the Navaho.”
“I was there,” Stephanie said smoothly. “I heard. That was my stepbrother Adam. Now do you believe me? Will you release Thunder Hawk into my care?”
The colonel rose slowly from his chair and went around the desk to gaze eye to eye with Stephanie again. “What’s this Injun to you, anyhow?” he said, smirking. “Is he your fella? Have you bedded up with this redskin?”
Stephanie blanched. She knew that this man was searching for the full truth behind her anxiousness to have Thunder Hawk set free. If he discovered that she was going to marry Thunder Hawk’s brother, then everything that she had argued for today would be for naught. He would think that she was doing this for all of the wrong reasons and never believe anything that she said about Adam, even if it was the truth.
“Well?” Colonel Utley demanded.
Stephanie’s throat was dry as she returned his steady stare. “I most certainly would never bed up with that man,” she said softly. “He is already married.” She leaned closer to him. “And you know that. Sky Dancer, his wife, was with him when you arrested him.”
The colonel shrugged, went back to his chair, and plopped down into it. “I’ve wasted enough of my time with you,” he said, glaring up at her. “Get on outta here.” He raised an eyebrow. “Your name. I need to know your name. I’m going to alert my men to make sure you ain’t allowed on these premises again.”
“My name is Stephanie Helton,” she said in a low hiss. “And, sir, the only way I am leaving today is to be thrown bodily from the fort.” She smiled sweetly down at him. “And I don’t think you want to do that, do you? Brutality toward a woman who has come to speak in defense of an innocent man could get you fired from your post. Don’t you think?”
“He ain’t proved innocent,” Colonel Utley mumbled.
“Before this day is over, he will be free from this jail,”
Stephanie said, stubbornly folding her arms across her chest. “I refuse to budge until you listen to reason.”
The colonel spat another stream of tobacco juice from the corner of his mouth. He opened a journal and began entering figures, ignoring her, as though she wasn’t there.
Stephanie stared down at him with a bitterness never known to her before. She was not sure how long she could stand there with this foul man, but hoped that she could at least outlast him.
Runner glared at Adam’s private car as he and Sage dismounted beside it. Runner grabbed his rifle from the gun boot at the side of his horse, while Sage slipped a knife from a sheath at his waist.
Father and son exchanged glances and nods, then moved stealthily up the steps.
When they reached Adam’s door, Runner slowly turned the knob. Together, he and his father stepped into the semidark car.
But there was enough light through the partially open shades for Runner to see Adam stretched across his bed on his stomach, snores rumbling from deep within him. Runner smelled a strong scent of alcohol, then smiled smugly. Adam had drunk himself into a stupor. The evidence lay in the empty bottle and glass on the floor beside his bed, and how Adam slept so soundly.
“I see it, also,” Sage said, smiling over at Runner. “He has much firewater in him.”
Runner went to Adam and grabbed him by the back of his shirt and yanked him from the bed. He turned Adam and held tightly to his arms as Adam looked back at him fearfully; seeing Runner and Sage quickly sobered him.
“Runner?” Adam said, his eyes wild. “Sage? What are you doing here?” He tried to squirm free of Runner’s grip. “Let me go. Do you hear? I demand it.”
“You make demands of Runner?” Runner said, his teeth clenched. “You want to be let go?”
Runner dropped his hands away, laughing to himself when he saw a smug look come into Adam’s eyes.
“Well, Adam, would you prefer this over being held?” Runner said, doubling up a fist and smashing it into Adam’s face.
