The Dark Sunrise by Terrence McCauley

Author:Terrence McCauley [McCauley, Terrence]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2020-09-23T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

Dover Station

James Grant sat on the edge of the bed, still too drunk to rise to his feet to greet such an important day.

He had spent the past week of his return to Dover Station awash in future glory to come. He had made a great show of spending money among some of the more important people in town who had prospered in the months since his incarceration. Businessmen, shop owners, saloon keepers, and bankers who had prospered independent of the Dover Station Company’s blessing. People who had despised him when he tried to run them out of business, but now that he had won his freedom, looked upon him as the best hope to break the stranglehold the company had on the town.

None of them were much on their own, but together, they represented a base of the population that could propel him back into power when the time came. He had spent the past week or so wining and dining them, showing them a good time and allowing them to partake in the female companionship The Ruby offered in their cribs out back.

He did not expect their undying loyalty to him. He only needed it for as long as it took him to regain power over the town. To do that, he would need to be as lucky as he was prepared. And, with Rigg’s help, he happened to be both.

Through his hangover, he could hear a great many people outside who had gathered along the alleyways and byways off Front Street all the way to Lee Street. He checked the pocket watch he had cast on the nightstand before falling into bed alone in the early hours of the morning. There were no shortage of Hancock whores who wished to bed him, but save for the times he was securing new allies in his bid for the town, he lived a solitary existence. He feared he might say too much when he had drank too much, and the wrong people might hear his plans.

The success of his plan hinged on one absolute certainty.

Secrecy.

He knew the weight of his plan would collapse in on itself if anyone was to learn of it too early. Fortunately, today was the day it was scheduled to begin.

He opened his pocket watch and saw it was almost noon. He had not slept past the dawning of his new destiny after all.

He would have to be content to sit by the window and watch the aftermath from above. To do anything more would be dangerous. To do any less would rob him of his first taste of revenge against the town that had given him so much and had been only too happy to take it all away.

He closed the pocket watch and held it tight in his fist. “By this time tomorrow,” he said to the empty room, “the town will be mine again.”

James Grant fought off the wave of nausea that washed over him as he got to his feet and stumbled to the door.

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