Silver Dreams by Cynthia Thomason

added. “Steering clear of the truth goes against my grain.”"Oh, you won't have to ever again. Ross is going to know just how close he came to ruining our family. And I think he's beginning to see the error of his ways. He's working full time at the paper, and just the other day he came upon an idea that was absolutely legitimate..." 
     
    Elizabeth stopped abruptly. She couldn’t believe her luck. Could it be that a golden opportunity had just dropped in her lap? Maybe Ross was right to believe in destiny. Perhaps Max showing up at her house tonight was her own destiny paying a call. She reached for Max's hand and clasped it tightly. "Do you have to be anywhere for a while?"
     
    He checked his wristwatch. "I have a few minutes."
     
    "Will you go somewhere with me?  It's near the Courier News building."
     
    “A hot tip, Betsy?”
     
    “Maybe.”
     
    “Okay. I’ll go.”
     
    Elizabeth tapped the driver's bench. "When you get to the newspaper office, pull around to the alley in back, please," she instructed. Then, her heart pounding with excitement, she turned to Max. "I'm going to pay you back for your kindness by letting you in on the most fascinating story you've ever come across. Just wait till you meet Dooley Blue!"
     
     
     
    When Max and Elizabeth got out of the carriage, she didn't doubt for a moment that Max would fall under Dooley's spell and become as enchanted with the idea of the Fair Day Mine as she and Ross were. And with his powers of persuasion, Max would be able to talk the Gazette editor into financing the entire escapade to Colorado, for all of them.
     
    More importantly, since the lead had come from her, Max would happily cut her in on the story. Soon Elizabeth would be learning the tricks of the trade and sharing a byline with Max Cassidy. And she’d be taught by the best. Max was a risk-taker who'd stop at nothing to get a good story. The thrill of adventure was pulsing through Elizabeth's veins as she led Max to the back stairwell of the decrepit rooming house.
     
    “Where are we going?” Max asked. “Somehow I can’t see you in an environment like this, Betsy.”
     
    “Then you don’t know the real me,” she said.
     
    The old miner was there, in the dim corner where he'd been two days ago. She went down the steps with Max close behind. "Mr. Blue?  Dooley?  It's me, Elizabeth Sheridan."
     
    He jerked his head up as if he'd been startled from a nap and squinted at her. "Hello, girlie. I was beginning to wonder what happened to you. You ain't give up on the Fair Day have you?"  Then, seeing Max for the first time, Dooley clamped his lips shut and scowled. "Who's that tailing along behind you?"
     
    Elizabeth pulled Max into the faint light coming from the back door. "This is Max Cassidy. I want you to tell him what you told Ross and me. Do you have the rock with you?"
     
    "I might have.” His analytical gaze swept the length of Max's body. Then he hesitantly produced the ore from his pocket.
     
    Max turned the rock over in his hand just as Elizabeth had done. "Okay, what's the story?" he asked, and Dooley began.
     
    Fifteen minutes later the tale of Ian and Clyde Faraday, their unfortunate demises, and the fortune they left to Dooley had unfolded. Max listened intently to every word and asked several questions. Elizabeth was certain he believed the old man, and since that had been accomplished, getting him to pursue the adventure would be easy. And he was sure to show his appreciation for this once-in-a-lifetime lead by allowing Elizabeth to cover the story with him.
     
    She asked Dooley to excuse them for a few minutes and tugged Max up the stairs to the street level. She was tense with the anticipation of hearing Max's reaction to Dooley's tale.
     
    "Here's my idea," she began in an impassioned whisper. "You get the True Detective Gazette to finance the trip to the Fair Day Mine, and we'll all go to Colorado together...you, me and Ross. It's the opportunity of a