Slocum's Silver Burden by Jake Logan Read Free Book Online Page A

Slocum wondered if Tamara had returned immediately to the office. She had met Jack to tell him about the railroad vice president hiring a small army to track down the robbers. That involved her in the robbery, but she was on her way to being cut out entirely because she had warned her partner.
    Slocum shook his head. It amazed him how gullible women could be—and men. Collingswood had undoubtedly told Tamara all the details of the silver shipment. She had passed them along to Jack. The outlaw had a yen for her, but was it anything like the one she had for him? Slocum doubted that. When she had refused to come away with him, the outlaw’s attitude had shifted. Wherever he went now, it was without Tamara.
    Slocum walked fast, head swiveling around as he hunted for the outlaw. Losing him because of the two cutpurses rankled, but Slocum knew a few things that kept him looking. Jack wasn’t a sailor, not from the way he dressed. His slightly bowed legs spoke of long days in the saddle, not hauling cable or furling sails on a ship. Wherever Tamara had met him was on land. He might have come into the Central California Railroad office. A railroad foreman? That might put him into contact with the woman.
    How and where Jack and Tam had teamed up mattered little at the moment. The outlaw was deserting her. That meant he was hightailing it for wherever the silver had been stashed. Such a huge load required a couple freight wagons to move, if Collingswood’s description was to be believed. If Slocum had to, he could ask around at towns along the tracks for a man matching Jack’s description who had bought a heavy wagon and a team. High in the mountains meant that oxen might be a better choice than horses. They were slow but powerful, able to haul heavy loads up steep inclines.
    All this flashed through Slocum’s head as he walked along the docks. Jack had come this way for a reason other than to go in a direction opposite Tamara’s when they parted.
    â€œHe’s leaving San Francisco,” Slocum said to himself. A slow grin curled his lips. The ferry across the Bay to Berkeley was an obvious way to flee.
    It took him a few minutes to backtrack along the docks and find the Ferry Building. The next ferry left in a half hour. If Slocum found Jack before then, the outlaw would give up all the answers to the identity of his partners and where the silver had been hidden before the sun went down. He touched the knife sheathed at the small of his back. He knew ways of making a statue scream for mercy. He hadn’t been a prisoner of the Apaches for damned near a week without learning some vicious tricks.
    Slocum studied the crowd forming to buy tickets. At first he didn’t see Jack and hung back. When he finally spotted the outlaw in line to buy a ticket, he knew what he had to do. Following the train robber to where he had stashed the silver was what he had been paid to do. If Jack led him to the rest of the gang, Slocum was in deep clover. David Collingswood hadn’t given an exact amount for a reward, but bringing in the gang along with the stolen Virginia City shipment had to be significant. Collingswood was confident enough that Slocum wouldn’t steal the silver himself.
    There wasn’t any reason to do that because Slocum knew he had a lever to use against the railroad officer. Collingswood hadn’t let word of the robbery get out because his boss would hold him personally liable. That fit in even better with Collingswood engaging in a bit of pillow talk with Tamara. That made it seem as if the vice president was part of the robbery. Even if he weaseled out of any charges, he would be fired for being so stupid and thinking with his dick and not his head.
    Slocum waited for Jack to get his ticket and shuffle toward the edge of the dock. The ferry wouldn’t load for another twenty minutes, but the crowd was significant enough to hide him from sight. He slid a silver dollar across and