“Someone else knows what we know. And they’re determined to find the gold.”
“If that’s the case, they must have some idea of where it might be. Hidden in the old shaft of the silver mine where Caleb Hough was killed?” Kelsey suggested.
“Maybe. But I still don’t understand why Sage McCormick’s skull was found on a wig stand, and why the body of an old-timer was dug up to point the way to Jay Berman’s corpse,” Jane said. “Unless, of course...”
“Unless it’s a warning to all the players to stay with the program,” Kelsey said.
“And Jay Berman somehow became a liability, just as Caleb Hough did. Whoever killed them thinks Jimmy and his mom knew what was going on, that Caleb let something slip,” Jane said. “Someone’s pulling the strings here. We know that at least two people, one of them a woman, are involved, because two people put Jimmy and Zoe Hough in the car in the garage and left them to die. Jennie was attacked in the basement. I was, too. Someone attempted to kill either Cy Tyburn or Brian Highsmith around the same time as Jennie was hurt. And the skull was found in the theater. Two things—the theater has to be implicated in some way...or someone’s going to a lot of effort to suggest it is. And, second, I think we’re looking at something similar to what happened all those years ago. There are partners in this, and a few of them are warning the others—or killing those they’re afraid might be on to something.”
“And the ghosts aren’t talking?” Kelsey asked.
“Sage...leaves messages. I’ve yet to meet Trey Hardy, but I’m hoping to make his acquaintance this evening.”
*
Sloan had just gotten Bullet back to the stables and was dismounting when Logan called him. He was glad to hear his old crime-fighting partner’s voice, glad he was in town.
“I’m at the morgue,” Logan told him. “With Liam Newsome. He’s brought me up to speed. We’re expecting some lab reports any minute.”
“Where are Kelsey and Jane?” Sloan asked.
“Reading at Desert Diamonds.”
“They should be safe enough there,” Sloan murmured.
As he spoke, Heidi came up to him. “I’ll take Bullet, Sloan, unless you still need him.”
He gave Heidi a quick smile, handing her the reins. He realized Logan was silent at the other end.
“Logan?”
“Yeah, I’m here. They’re both good at what they do,” he said.
“But I found Jane with a concussion down in the basement of the theater. We’re lucky our killer didn’t finish her off. Or Jennie.”
“You’re going to need to have faith in Jane. This is what she does. Trust in her training,” Logan said. “You, me—anyone out there—can be taken by surprise, especially when we’re not on alert.”
That was true; he’d seen massive sharpshooter cops brought down by junkies because they weren’t prepared to be attacked, because they were trying to help.
“I know you’re right,” Sloan said. “I’ll stop in and see what they’re doing and then head over to join you,” Sloan said.
“You’ve got men in town, right?”
“Both my day guys, and the county has men in.”
“Yeah, Newsome told me. See you when you get here.”
Sloan walked over to Desert Diamonds. Seated on a fake boulder in front of the theater, Brian Highsmith was regaling the crowd with the story of Lily, proudly boasting that the Gilded Lily was older than Tombstone’s Birdcage.
Alice Horton was beside him, dressed in full vamp attire, handing out fliers.
Sloan walked on, to the store. There were long lines at the pizzeria and the coffee bar. People were shopping, spending money—everything was going as it should.
He passed Grant Winston, who was at one of the counters, cheerfully instructing a cashier to return a man’s money; the man had purchased the same book twice. Grant saw him and smiled, then motioned toward his office. Sloan nodded.
He entered the office. Jane was standing with a tall, pretty woman whose reddish blond hair was tied back in a ponytail. They were going through a book slowly, page by page.
She looked up at Sloan. “Well?” she asked. “Who was it?”
“Valerie Mystro.”
“Valerie? What reason did she give?”
“She likes Jimmy and Zoe Hough. She brought cookies and candy. And Caleb Hough donated to the theater. Apparently, she wants to make sure his wife likes theater, too.”
“You believed her?”
He shrugged. “We’ll see what else happens. What about you?”
“Oh!” she said with excitement. “We think we’ve got it!”