The Doctor's Newfound Family. Valerie Hansen

a packet and monogrammed with the initials R.R. “Take this and see that it’s placed in Reese’s workshop, Sheriff. Don’t make it too obvious, but be sure the gold shavings and dust are still in it when it’s found. Do I make myself clear?”

      “You think we’d steal from you?”

      “In a heartbeat, if you thought you could get away with it,” Bein answered. “Only this time you can’t. We all need that gold to be discovered in Reese’s possession. And since he and Isabelle are both dead, no one will be able to refute the charges against him.”

      “What about the girl? She came back here.”

      “What? You didn’t let her in, did you?”

      “No, sir. We sent her away. She never got out of the buggy.”

      His eyes narrowed below bushy, graying brows. “What buggy? Reese didn’t even own a horse, let alone a rig.”

      “I think it was that doctor what brought her,” Scannell said. “You know. The young one with the shingle on the second floor over the Wells Fargo office.”

      Bein cursed colorfully. “Oh, I know him, all right. He and Coleman are thick as thieves. He’s sure to inform the Vigilance Committee.”

      “I thought you said you weren’t worried about them.”

      “I’m not. I just don’t want any further trouble over this.” He glanced sideways at the hired thugs who were still standing guard at the corners of the broad porch. “If need be, we may have to eliminate the girl, too.”

      “Oh, now, I don’t know as I like that idea,” the sheriff said, edging away from the well-dressed man. “She’s just a young thing. Pretty, too. It’s bad enough her mama had to die the way she did.”

      “Only because she stuck her nose in where it didn’t belong,” Bein countered. “You lost one of yours in the gunfight, you know.”

      “I know. But Billy wasn’t all that bright to start with. He never should of showed himself when he shot Reese.” He was slowly shaking his head as he spoke. “Is it true that the woman got him?”

      “That’s my understanding,” Bein answered. “Which should prove to you that her daughter may be someone to be reckoned with. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to go to jail just because some stupid woman points an accusing finger at me.”

      “I suppose you’re right.” Nodding soberly, Scannell perused the broad street. “All right. You look into it and get word to me if you need me to eliminate the girl, too. I won’t like it, but I’ll see that it’s done.”

      “Good man. And keep your mouth shut about this,” he added, eyeing the packet of gold the sheriff was about to deposit in Robert Reese’s workroom. “Now, go get rid of that evidence like I told you to.”

      “What’ll you be doing?” the sheriff asked.

      “Offering my condolences to my partner’s grieving family,” Bein said with a self-satisfied smile. “As soon as I find out where the children went, their loving uncle Will is going to offer them a nice settlement and see that they have passage on the next ship back to Massachusetts, where their parents came from.”

      “You think they’ll go? Just like that?”

      “When they learn that this house and everything in it has legally passed to me upon the death of their father, I don’t see what other choice those little brats will have, do you?”