Under a Turquoise Sky by J. R. Roberts Page A

is definitely yes. I would kill to protect my mine.”
    â€œOkay,” Clint said, “that’s what I wanted to know.”

TWENTY-TWO
    After leaving the hotel, Clint entered Sheriff Cafferty’s office and found it empty. He’d never encountered a deputy, and didn’t find one now. He looked back in the cell block and found only empty cells. He was about to leave when the front door opened and the sheriff stepped in.
    â€œAdams,” the man said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
    â€œJust wanted to check in with you on a couple of things,” Clint said.
    â€œCan you do it while I make a pot of coffee?” Cafferty asked, walking to the cast-iron stove that looked as if it had once been in somebody’s kitchen.
    â€œI don’t see why not.”
    â€œWait, I’ve got to get some water.” He grabbed a pot and went out a back door, leaving it open. Clint heard the sound of a pump, and then Cafferty came back in, closing the door behind him. He grabbed a handful of grounds and dropped them into the pot, then lit the stove and set the pot on top.
    â€œLet’s sit,” he said, and went around behind his desk. “What’s on your mind?”
    â€œTwo things,” Clint said, seating himself. “I hired Buck Chance and he’s going to guide us to the Blue Lady Mine.”
    â€œThe Blue Lady? That’s your friend’s mine?”
    â€œApparently. Why?”
    He thought Cafferty was smirking, but it disappeared and he couldn’t be sure.
    â€œNo reason. When are you leavin’?”
    â€œFirst light.”
    â€œYou’ll spend one night on the trail, then.”
    â€œThat’s what we figured.”
    â€œChance’ll do right by you.”
    â€œI think so, too,” Clint said.
    â€œWhat was the other thing?”
    â€œI’ve got two idiots following me around.”
    â€œHow do you know they’re idiots?”
    â€œWell, first, they’re following me around.”
    â€œGood point.”
    â€œSecond, they think I don’t see them.”
    â€œMaybe they’re fans,” the sheriff said.
    â€œAnd maybe not,” Clint said. “If something goes wrong, I want you to know I tried to avoid it.”
    â€œYou think they’re gonna try you?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Clint said. “If they were going to, they probably would have done it by now.”
    â€œThen what?” Cafferty asked. “You think it’s got somethin’ to do with your friend’s mine?”
    â€œWell, I didn’t,” Clint said, “but now I do, maybe.”
    â€œDescribe them.”
    Clint did, in detail, and Cafferty listened intently, then started shaking his head.
    â€œDon’t know them?” Clint asked.
    â€œThe opposite,” Cafferty said. “I know a dozen of ’em.”
    â€œI was afraid of that.”
    â€œDo you want me to watch your back, grab ’em and question ’em?” the lawman asked.
    â€œNo,” Clint said, standing up, “I’ll handle it.”
    â€œNot by killin’ them, I hope.”
    â€œNot unless they force me into it,” Clint said. “Besides, if it happens on the trail, or up at the mine—”
    â€œI’m the sheriff for all of Mohave County, Adams,” Cafferty said. “If somethin’ happens at one of the mines, they send for me.”
    â€œHow do you do these jobs without deputies?”
    â€œI’ve had deputies,” the lawman said. “Like the men following you, most of them have been idiots, not worth the effort it took to pin a badge on them.”
    â€œToo bad,” Clint said. “Sounds like you could use some help.”
    â€œYou volunteering?”
    â€œNot me,” Clint said. “I’ve got a job.”
    â€œI could pay you twenty dollars a month.”
    â€œTempting, but no.”
    Clint headed for the