A Bride for Frank by Cynthia Woolf

Author:Cynthia Woolf [Woolf, Cynthia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781954996892
Publisher: Firehouse Publishing

Chapter Eight

Maisie shaded her eyes as she worked in the sun and then swatted at the flies buzzing around her. Some bird cried out as she worked on the rocks, picking at them and separating the granite from the golden color. But the color was fool’s gold. She knew it since Frank had showed her the difference, but she didn’t tell Slade. She just kept working at it and the golden pile got bigger.

Finally, she was on the last rock and she saw some real gold, the bright yellow stood out against the less bright iron pyrite, but there was nothing she could do about it. First, it wasn’t much and second, if she’d kept it separate, Slade would have gotten suspicious. So, she added it to the pile of iron pyrite. It added an air of truth to the pile of dirt she was passing off as gold dust.

Slade gazed down at the collection and grinned. “I knew there was gold here. You tried to keep it for yourself, but I knew.”

“Aren’t you afraid your boss will wonder what you’ve been doing when you should have been on your way back with the money?”

His eyes widened and he looked over his shoulder.

Whoever his boss was, Slade was afraid of him. Maisie lifted a brow. Interesting. Who in the world could he be afraid of? Who could do harm to a deputy sheriff, except maybe the sheriff? But I happen to know that sheriff is an honest man. He did his best to keep Donald away from me, jailing him for vagrancy a couple of times so he wouldn’t come home drunk. So, who is Slade working for?

“You never mind about my boss. He and I have an understanding.”

“Does his understanding include you taking all my money and the gold and killing me? I can’t imagine he’ll be very happy if you do that. You’ll be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life.”

He stepped toward her, his hand raised. “Shut up! You don’t know anything. Just keep working and getting me that gold.”

Clearly, appealing to his logical side didn’t work. She kept taking the fool’s gold from the rocks.

Frank returned with a fresh bucket.

Slade turned his gun toward Frank.

Frank was faster. He fired his weapon.

Roy Slade fell to the ground clutching his right side. “How? I took your gun.”

“Did you forget about Joe Small’s gun?”

Slade dropped his gun and clutched his side while blood ran through his fingers. “I didn’t kill Small. How would I know if he still had his weapon?”

Frank narrowed his eyes and held his gun on Slade. “But you said the map showed where his body was. If you didn’t kill him how would you know that?”

“Donald told me and since I’m the only one alive, I couldn’t very well have them find the body and pin it on me, just like you’re doing.”

Maisie shook her head. “That’s awfully farfetched, Slade. Why should we believe you?”

“Why else would I want the map?”

She rolled her eyes.

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