Free Slocum Giant 2013 : Slocum and the Silver City Harlot (9781101601860) by Jake Logan Page A

tried to gun down Frank.”
    Slocum tried to make sense from it and couldn’t.
    â€œYou reckon Frank knew his partner was inside the ice?” Slocum asked.
    â€œMust have, from the way you tell it. But Frank wasn’t really Bedrich’s partner,” the sheriff said. “Former partner is more like it. They had a big bust-up a couple months back. Texas Jack was always doin’ that with his partners. He could be real ornery and not above usin’ men for his own gain.” He took a deep breath, then added, “Then again, the split might have been over Bedrich’s woman. I think Frank was sweet on her, too.”
    Slocum perked up. The way Whitehill said it, he might be sweet on the same woman.
    â€œIf Frank killed Bedrich and stuffed him in the ice, why’d he come so all fired fast on Slocum’s heels?” Tucker perched his butt on the edge of the sheriff’s desk and let a short leg swing back and forth nervously.
    â€œDoesn’t make a lick of sense,” Whitehill admitted. “You keep a sharp eye out for Frank. From what the doc said, he’s not gettin’ out of Silver City walkin’. Might be the only way he’ll get out of town is in Rafe’s hearse.”
    â€œHearse? The town digger’s got a hearse?” Tucker looked skeptical.
    â€œMore like a wagon with a canvas top on it. Painted all black, has black horses to pull it. Rafe’s got quite a business goin’.”
    â€œWith the ice gone, I suppose I ought to fix up the wagon and go back to Santa Fe. Holst will have a fit,” Slocum said.
    â€œCain’t let you do that, Slocum, not ’til this matter of a bullet in Bedrich’s chest is cleared up. You might be tellin’ the truth—”
    â€œHe is,” cut in Tucker. “If he ain’t, I’ll cut his tongue out and roast it on an open fire.”
    â€œI might have your tongue, too, Dan,” said the sheriff. “As I was sayin’, until this gets cleared up, you can work on your wagon all you want but don’t go headin’ them mules northward or tryin’ to ride that Apache pony out of here in any direction.”
    â€œApache pony?” Dangerous Dan Tucker shook his head. “You can’t do things like an ordinary fellow, can you, Slocum? How’d you come by an Indian mount?”
    â€œYou can catch up on all this on your own time. Get out there on patrol, Tucker. Saloons will be closin’ up in another hour or so.”
    â€œYou owe me a drink, at least, Slocum,” Tucker said. With that he melted into the black night.
    â€œTell me one thing, Sheriff.”
    â€œYou can sleep in one of the cells if you’re short some cash money,” Whitehill said.
    The last thing Slocum wanted was to spend another night in a jail. He had endured that too many times to be comfortable, even if the cell door wasn’t locked this time.
    â€œI’ll make do,” he said. “What I wanted to know was about this Texas Jack Bedrich. You made it sound like him and Frank squabbled over more than a woman.”
    â€œDon’t know they fought over her, but they might have. Bedrich and Frank made a decent strike on the edge of Chloride Flats where all the silver is mined. Frank’s the sort who is never satisfied with what he has. Always wants more. You know the type?”
    Slocum nodded. He did.
    â€œWell, sir, I think Bedrich gave Frank the claim. Don’t rightly know what he got in return, but Bedrich had a nose for blue dirt. He could sniff out silver chloride a mile off, and might have.”
    â€œThat still doesn’t explain how Bedrich ended up dead in a block of ice being hauled to Tombstone,” Slocum said.
    â€œNope, it don’t,” said Whitehill. “Now you skedaddle. I got the other end of town to patrol. Dan’s a good deputy, but he can’t do it all.”
    Slocum stepped into the cold mountain night and saw the