The Inheritance by Tamera Alexander

Author:Tamera Alexander
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc.
Published: 2011-12-06T09:35:23.839000+00:00

TWENTY-THREE

Late the next afternoon, an hour out of Copper Creek, Wyatt urged Whiskey onto a side trail that wound upward some seven hundred feet to the town of Severance—site to one of the biggest gold strikes in Colorado history.

Caves surrounding Severance had shown more gold to men plumbing the mountain’s depths than any others. But that was years ago, and since that time, the mountain—if she had anything left to give—had been holding back. Rumor in recent months was that she was reawakening, hinting at color even richer than before. And the almost-forgotten town of Severance was being birthed again. That wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Severance was rough, even by Colorado standards, and drew the kind of men Wyatt usually kept in his sights, which was why he was headed that direction. The Marshals Office listed Severance as a town involved in a gambling ring, along with Bixby and Copper Creek, and his meeting with one of the higher-ups in Boulder that morning had shed new light on the assignment.

Gambling was a lucrative business, and the Marshals Office had no intention of trying to shut it down. That’d be like holding back an ocean. Their focus was narrower in scope. They were after the key conspirators in the ring, the handful of men who had orchestrated the robberies.

Wyatt guided Whiskey around a larger boulder in the path.

A man by the name of Brinks owned a fleet of stages used for transporting money and valuable goods across the mountains, and to towns on the plains. After numerous robberies, Mr. Brinks approached the Marshals Office about investigating the incidents, which they’d been obliged to do—seeing as the two men killed in the last incident were two of their own. Wyatt had known the marshals. They were good men. Or had been.

His visit to Severance today was more for scouting, seeing what and who was here. He’d been to Severance twice before, and had been warned by his superiors to keep a low profile, as he typically did at this stage of an investigation. No one knew his occupation in Severance, that he knew of, and the Marshals Office had made it clear it was to stay that way. If he lost that advantage, the chance of finding the men responsible for the crimes was slim to none. And like his superiors, he was eager to see justice meted out, before anyone else was killed.

He’d been given no names yet, no arrests were to be made. Right now, he only wanted to get something to eat and down a cool drink to ease the ache in his head, then he’d start scouting the place.

The winding trail opened into the main—and, only—thoroughfare in Severance. Clapboard buildings and shacks lined the road, most either built adjacent to the other, or sharing common walls that looked weary of shouldering the load. With few exceptions, the structures housed saloons, brothels, or the larger and more lucrative gaming halls—which typically offered both gambling and “comfort,” as it was called.

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