Doom Weapon Read Online Free Page B

Sometimes the agency takes it seriously, sometimes not. Depends on what the federal man’s being accused of.
    “Well, I appreciate you talking to me about Terhurne. And you don’t have to worry about me keeping it secret.”
    He started to turn to the door and open it but then he stopped. He frowned again and said, “You’ll meet a man named Swarthout and a woman named Ella Coltrane. They’re the two richest people in town. Or were, anyway, before the silver in the mine started running out.”
    I remembered that the mine had been shut down when I got here. No second or third shift.
    “Anything special I should know about them?”
    “Well, first of all, they’re the sort of rich people who give rich people a bad name. A lot of wealthy folks treat folks like us with some respect—but not those two. Anyway, they both spent a lot of time with Grieves. Icouldn’t tell you why. But either Swarthout was showing him the town or Grieves was out at Ella Coltrane’s. She’s a fine-looking woman. If I wasn’t married—”
    I laughed. “A hotel man who doesn’t believe in a little something on the side?”
    “Not me. I’ve got a wife and three kids and they’re my life. From the things I’ve seen, you cheat once or twice and then you slowly start cheating a lot. It’s like a contagion or something. It just starts taking over your life.”
    He left a minute later. I got out of my clothes and into bed. I rolled myself a cigarette and lay there listening to the night sounds. There was comfort in those sounds. Sometimes I’d be on treks as long as a month when I barely saw two or three people a week. Some fugitives chose to hide out in the mountains or the deep forest and I had to go after them.
    But the birds and the raccoons and even the occasional bear had become like kin to me over the years. There was a sweetness and innocence in them that you only seldom found in human beings. I’d said this once to somebody—that I often preferred the company of animals to the company of people—and she gave me a very strange look. I suppose I would’ve given myself a strange look, too.
    Right before I slept, I thought of Molly. She knew something, something dangerous to her, dangerous as it had been to her Uncle Bob. But would she be willing to tell Terhurne or me what it was before it was too late?

Chapter 5
    I n the morning, I ate a big breakfast at a restaurant where at least some of the town’s elite chose to eat. You could tell they were important by the derbies, cravats, walking sticks, and sizable rings they wore. They ate at two long tables near the back. This was to separate them from the trash like me and the modest merchants and shop employees who ate much humbler breakfasts and hurried on their way.
    The waitress said, “In case you want to know, that blond one is the mayor, the one with the Vandyke beard is the richest banker in town, and the lady with them is Ella Coltrane, who inherited a short-haul railroad that mostly does business with the mine.”
    I flipped her the gold piece I’d promised if she told me about who the highborns were. She caught it and grinned. She had one of those big amiable faces that most successful eateries have at least one of.
    “And here’s one for free. The banker, Nels Swarthout, and Her Highness Mrs. Ella Coltrane also own the mine. But they’re going to close it in a few months because the silver’s running out. A lot of the miners want to strike so that Swarthout and Ella can’t get the rest of the silver out—and then leave the miners with no jobsat all. And by the way, Swarthout is the worst tipper in town. Cheap cheap cheap just like a birdie.”
    I’d figured that those three had to be special. They didn’t even eat at the long tables.
    “Who usually sits in the empty chair?”
    “That’d be Sheriff Terhurne, whenever he can make it.”
    “He’s probably busy.”
    She winked at me. “He’s probably busy all right.” She used her wet rag to clean up some