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CHAPTER 16

      THE RANCH house was dark. Rand couldn't see Brennan's Hudson, but it could have been parked behind the house.

      Rand parked the Chevy and walked up Brennan's porch steps loudly, clattered his boots. He banged on the door. Almost at once he could hear Brennan cursing inside. The shade in a window moved aside as Brennan looked out. A minute later the door opened a crack. "What do you want this time of night?" Brennan asked.

      "I want to talk to you."

      "You're trespassing on my property. I could shoot you!" But he opened the door and came out, barefoot and shirtless, a revolver in his hand. "I thought you were gone to California to see your brother."

      "I haven't got a brother. I came to tell you to call off your dog!"

      "What do you mean, dog? They killed my dog."

      "I mean Petrie."

      "Oh, him! What's he doin' now?" Whatever Petrie was doing, it sounded as though Brennan intended to make light of it.

      "He's trying to kill me," Rand said.

      Brennan seemed at a loss. He scratched absently at his grizzled chest. "I guess this will take a little time," he said soberly. "I'm cold. I'll be right back."

      After he had a little thinking time, he came back to the porch with his shirt and boots on. This time he left the gun inside. "Sit down, and let's you and me talk," he said mildly.

      They sat in the willow chairs. Rand braced for a diatribe, but Brennan spoke softly. "You're a law man, aren't you?"

      "No, I'm a private investigator who works mostly for lawyers," Rand said. "Mrs. Hood hired me to look into her husband's murder."

      "I had nothing to do with that," Brennan said. He fished his pipe and tobacco out of his pocket, tapped out the dottle, packed it carefully with the Prince Albert, and lit up.

      "Mrs. Hood said you were snooping around their place. How come you were so interested in Nick Hood?"

      Brennan took his time answering. "I'll tell you why. One morning about three weeks ago, I was watching the C.C.C. boys build a little runoff dam on my land to preserve water, when I saw a man on horseback on my property about half a mile away. He appeared to be heading out toward Sugarloaf Peak in the Organs.

      "The C.C.C. captain said the rider had gone out there all three days they were working there, and had even stopped and passed the time of day. He said the rider's name was Hood, and he lookin' for mineral deposits like feldspar, quartz and stuff like that to bring back to his geology class at the Aggies."

      Brennan paused. "I carry field glasses when I inspect my property, so I went over to my horse and got them, and I saw the rider had a prospector's pick strapped to his saddle. When I got back to the house, I called the college and talked to some woman who told me they did have a professor named Hood who taught geology. I went back to the dam the same time the next day, and there he was again. He saw me from the distance and waved at me, and I waved back. The next morning, when I went back at the same time, he had circled around and was so far away he was just a speck. I followed him, but I lost him in a canyon in the mountains. You know there's pine trees and some streams in the high canyons?"

      "I didn't know that," Rand said.

      "It looks barren, but they're beautiful places in there. I knew he was lookin' for gold. They say there are veins as thick as a horse, if you can just find 'em. That evening I looked in the phone book and found his address and went out to his house and introduced myself to him. We talked a minute, but he was kinda cold to me and didn't invite me inside."

      "What did you talk about?" Rand asked.

      "I told him I didn't mind he was crossing my land, but I knew he was looking for gold, and I got mineral rights in parts of the mountain where he was looking. I said I expected to get a share of whatever he found on my land."

      "What did he say?"

      "He told me he'd think about it!" Brennan shook his head. "Can you imagine his gall?"

      "I never knew him; I don't now about his gall."

      "Well, I'll tell you, the man had solid brass cajones," Brennan said. "I've got a post office box in town, and every day or so I drive down and pick up my mail and maybe bring back some supplies. Sometimes I'd go by his house to see just what was goin' on - but I never saw anything, except once his wife came to the window and stared at me. I thought maybe by letting them see me, I would remind him that I expected my share of what he found."

      "What did you figure your share would be?" Rand asked.

      "Why, as much as I could get!"

      "Looks like you got nearly all of it," Rand said. "Petrie told me you followed him and took the gold after he got run off the road and shot."

      Brennan lowered his voice. "We didn't shoot him! I know we made a big mistake when we took that box, but if we hadn't, his killer would."

      "And then somebody came and stole it from you."

      "That's right. You were already working for me."

      "How did they know you had it?"

      "I don't know," Brennan said.

      "I think it's your beard, Bill," Rand said. "I think Hood's killer knew you."

      "Maybe. But those two guys we hunted down sure as hell didn't know me." His eyes met Rand's directly. "Believe me?"

      "I don't know," Rand said honestly. "But it's the same story Petrie told me."

      "I want to go on the record right now - I didn't kill anybody. It was Petrie that dumped that hay-truck driver off the loft and hung him. And it Petrie that put the rope around the Mexican's neck and hoisted him, finishing the job you started. He would have killed that kid if you didn't stop him. Petrie is a fool. He don't know when to stop."

      "You sicked him on me," Rand said.

      "I didn't!"

      "He tried to get me this morning but I got the jump on him."

      "I heard about that," Brennan said. "Was that when he told you we got the gold?"

      "Yeah. And he shot at me when I was coming out of Mrs. Hood's place tonight. He broke my window and put a hole in my door."

      "I'll make him pay to repair it," Brennan said.

      "I don't care about that. Just keep him off of me, Bill. I don't want any more trouble from him."

      "Are you going to tell the sheriff about this?"

      "Not if you call off Petrie."

      "If you tell Navarette, I'll put you in there as an accessory to murder and you'll get worse than me!" Brennan said.

      Rand stood up. "Just tell me you'll make Petrie leave me alone. I've heard you're an honest man, and I'll take your word for it."

      Brennan stood and shook hands with Rand. "It's a deal. I'm sorry he bothered you."

      "Thanks, Bill," Rand said warmly. "I believe you."

      Rand went off the porch and got in his car and drove back toward the highway.

      Brennan watched him go. Then he said, "How'd I do?"

      Petrie, standing out of sight next to the door, had heard everything. He had gotten to the house only a few minutes before Rand arrived. Now came outside and sat in the chair Rand had left. "I wish you didn't say all those bad things about me, Bill."

      Brennan glared at him. "It was just propaganda, Tom, to throw him off. I couldn't very well defend you, now could I? Besides, you let me down. You missed him when you could of got him."

      "I'd have done it now, while he was here, if you'd a' let me. Why'd you stop me when you came to get your shirt?"

      "You want to kill a man right on my front porch when my wife is sound asleep inside? Why, one shot and Benedict and Doak Vance would be over here in half a minute." Brennan shook his head sadly. "Use your brain. He was lying to me as hard as I was lying to him. That man's pure trouble, and you gotta get him."

      "Well, I tried . . . "

      Brennan shut him up with a stare. "Try harder. Right this minute he's out on the road heading to town. Go after him and cut him off. Drive without lights. If you can't cut him off on the road, find out where he's stayin'. And when you learn that, stand your ground like a man and do it right. Kill the sonofabitch!"

      Petrie started for the Hudson, parked behind the ranch house.

      "Run!" Brennan said. "And be careful of my car."

      Petrie ran. He drove off to the sound of clashing gears.

      Rand was ready. He had pulled far off the road into the desert and parked behind a clump of yuccas. Petrie, driving by moonlight, missed him completely.

      Not wanting to meet him coming back on the road, Rand waited an hour, until Petrie returned to the ranch house. Then Rand drove into town, parked the car some distance from the Las Cruces Courts, and walked to his room. He went in and locked the door carefully and took off his clothes. For a long time he sat naked on the bed in the dark holding the .32 in his hand. It was almost 2 a.m. when he finally fell asleep. It had been one hell of a busy day, and he was tired.

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