Treasure of the Anasazi Page 12

  “I’m going to pull in. This is as good a place as any for a bite,” I said. We exchanged smiles.

  “You’re not looking for trouble, are you?” asked Rudy. “And people think I’m the rowdy one.”

  “Don’t spread it around,” I said.

  I looked around the interior of the café as I walked through the front door. I made eye contact with Smith. His face began to turn red before my eyes, and it looked as though a vein across his forehead was preparing to explode. Jones could see the change in his partner and turned to see why. Jones placed his hand on Smith’s and whispered something to him. Smith pulled his hand away and continued to stare. After a few more words from Jones, he reluctantly returned to his coffee. The waitress, Marlene, brought out their plates of food and set them down on the table. Smith returned his attention to his meal.

  We sat in a booth along the opposite wall.

  “I don’t think they’re happy to see us,” said Rudy.

  “Don’t start anything in here,” I said.

  “It was your idea,” said Rudy.

  “I know, but maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. I don’t want any bystanders to get hurt. Let’s get out of here. We can stop in town. Let’s go.”

  “Whatever you say,” said Rudy. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  We stood as Marlene came over with menus.

  “Sorry, Marlene. We’ll be back another time,” I said.

  I went out the door and turned to ask Rudy where he wanted to go instead. I was alone. He hadn’t followed me outside. This would probably not be good. I should have seen this coming and had Rudy leave in front of me.

  Looking through the huge plate glass window, I could see that he was already at their table. All hell was about to break loose and there wasn’t any way I could get back inside in time to stop it. Then, surprisingly, Rudy turned around and headed toward the door. Rudy walked past me smiling. “You coming?” he asked.

  “What just happened in there?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” said Rudy.

  “I saw that. What did you say to them?”

  “I gave them my business card.”

  “Are you kidding? Why?”

  “Hey, business has been a little slow. They’re strangers in town, and I told them if they needed a guide I was the guy.”

  “What did they say?”

  “They didn’t say anything, but I don’t think I’m going to hear from them. The big guy tore my card into itty bitty pieces.”

  “You’re not surprised, are you?”

  “No. I’d have been surprised if they’d taken me up on it. It was kind of fun though,” said Rudy. We exchanged smiles as I shook my head. Normally, neither one of us would instigate trouble, but some people just get under our skin, and these two just happened to bring out the worst in us.

  * * *

  The Hightower boys had also been in the café for an early breakfast. They had been in the booth next to Smith and Jones and had witnessed the exchange with Rudy. They had also overheard the discussion between Smith and Jones, even though they had been trying to keep their voices low. Billy was sitting with his back to Smith. It didn’t take much effort to listen in. He heard them talk about going back to Mesa Verde Park to search for something he didn’t quite catch. Mixed in was a string of curses directed at the lady Ranger, Jack and Rudy. That’s what got his attention initially. The more he heard the more interested he became. There could be an opportunity here. He turned sideways in the booth and tapped Smith on the shoulder.

  “Excuse me, mister,” said Billy.

  Smith turned to face him. “Yeah?”

  To most people Smith would be an intimidating character, but not to Billy. They were about the same size, and Billy had been known to be a little intimidating himself.

  “My brothers and I couldn’t help overhearing some of your conversation and…”

  “You locals just can’t keep your nose out of other people’s business, can you?” exclaimed Smith, his face again turning red with anger. As a result of the activities of the previous evening and a lack of sleep, he had an even shorter fuse than usual.

  Billy didn’t appreciate it when anyone raised their voice to him. His chest began to puff out and his posture became more erect as he slid out of the booth.

  Standing next to and towering over Smith, he said, “There’s no sense in getting bent out of shape. I think we can help each other out.”

  Smith seemed to calm down a bit. “How’s that?”

  “I heard you say you were looking for something out at Mesa Verde. We know every trail out there like the back of our hands. Maybe we can be of assistance.”

  Billy had two reasons for offering their help. One, if there were a few bucks to be made, he was interested. The second, he could keep an eye on them and find out exactly what they were looking for and maybe help himself. If these two were going to be a problem, he wanted to be nearby. There was no way Billy would allow them to interrupt their enterprise at the park.

  “Maybe you can help,” said Jones, “but I don’t want to talk here. Come to the Cozy Inn, Room 106 at noon.”

  “We’ll be there.”

  * * *

  It was 11:30 when we arrived at Mel’s. The orange neon ‘open’ sign was on. There were no other vehicles parked out front. I didn’t know if Benny had a car or not. Mel waved and smiled as we came through the door.

  “Haven’t seen you guys for a while, Jack, Rudy. How’ve you been?”

  “Good, Mel. Say, we’re looking for someone, Benny Doyle. Have you seen him lately?” I asked.

  “Just about everyday, but strangely he hasn’t been around for the last couple of days. He usually shows up by noon if he’s coming. Do you want to hang around and see if he comes in?”

  “I guess we could stick around for a while.”

  “Get you something to drink?” Mel asked.

  “Not right now, thanks,” I said.

  “Nothing for me,” said Rudy.

  We sat at the bar waiting for Benny, making small talk with Mel. The usual topics came up, weather, how’s business, etc. It didn’t take long to run out of things to say. After about thirty minutes of waiting I asked Mel, “Have you seen Benny talking to any strangers recently?”

  “As a matter of fact, last time he was in here he was sitting in that booth right over there with two men. Benny met them here a couple times over the last two to three weeks. I’d never seen them before.”

  “Was one a big guy and the other short with black hair?”

  “Yeah, that’s them. Why? What’s going on?”

  “We’re not sure yet. Do you know what they were talking about?”

  Mel smiled. “The first time they met I think they were just egging him on. We’d been teasing him about some stories he was telling, supposedly from an old journal that he bought. I think they just wanted to get in on it, but when they got together it always had something to do with the journal.”

  “What was in this journal?”

  “We never saw what was in it, but we couldn’t stop him from talking about it. It became kind of a joke around here.”

  “Why?”

  “He said according to the journal there is a village of Anasazi living in the Restricted Area out at Mesa Verde, a spring with special powers, and get this, a treasure of some sort. Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous?”

  “Never, that’s just nuts,” I said, forcing a laugh.

  “Sounds like it would make a good story though,” said Rudy.

  “Well, now you can see why we’ve been letting him have it. I hope we didn’t run him off,” said Mel. “He’s not a bad sort of fellow, actually a decent guy and a good sport.”

  “Well, it doesn’t look like he’s going to show up today, so I think we’re going to go ahead and take off.”

  “Yeah, if he was coming in, he most likely would have been here by now.”

  “If you see Benny, would you let him know we’re looking for him?” I a
sked.

  “No problem. You guys ought to come around a little more often.”

  “We’ll do that.”

  * * *

  Billy and his brothers pulled onto the gravel drive leading to the Cozy Inn, driving along the row of rooms until they spotted Room #106, pulling into the parking space in front. Daryl and Donny stayed in the pickup while Billy went to the door. It opened as he was raising his hand to knock.

  “Come on in,” said Smith. “Your brothers too if you like.”

  “They’re okay. And I’d prefer if we talked out here.”

  Smith smiled. “All right.” He gave a little jerk of his head to Jones, inviting him to come outside.

  “You said something about helping us out,” said Smith.

  “If we can. We gathered that you’re looking for something out at the park. We know that place as good as or better than anyone around, especially at night,” hinted Billy. “What are you looking for?”

  “We’ll get to that. How well do you know the East Rim area, let’s say around the Restricted Area?” asked Jones.

  “No one’s allowed in the Restricted Area,” Billy informed them.

  “We know. How well do you know it?” asked Jones.

  Billy smiled. “Well enough.”

  Actually he didn’t know it all that well. Billy and his brothers had purposely not gone very deep into the area, staying near the fence in case they needed a quick getaway. There was one other reason, there were stories. It was rumored that those who went deep into the Restricted Area never came back out. They were just stories, but they had decided not to take any chances.

  “Have you ever heard of a spring inside the fenced area?” asked Smith.

  “There are several springs scattered throughout the canyons.”

  “This is a very special spring,” explained Jones. “Ever hear anything about a special spring?”

  Billy didn’t have any idea what he was talking about, but he wasn’t about to tell him.

  “I might know which one you’re talking about. It’s going to be risky. What’s in it for us?”

  “If you can take us to that spring, we’ll make it worth your while,” said Jones.

  “I’m afraid I’m going to need something a little more concrete than that,” said Billy.

  “What did you have in mind?” asked Jones.

  “Why do you want to find this spring?”

  “That’s our business.” Jones paused. “I’m beginning to get this feeling that you don’t know anything. I’m not going to be played by some local hustler, so I think we’re through. Why don’t you go ahead and take off? Try your hustle on someone else.”

  “Fine,” said Billy. “Good luck with finding that spring on your own. I hope you have plenty of time.”

  Billy didn’t wait for a response, turning his back on Jones and stepping off the small porch, walking to the truck. Jones looked at Smith. They exchanged questioning looks and Jones shrugged his shoulders. Smith nodded.

  “Okay. Wait a minute.”

  Billy walked back to the porch but didn’t step up. He stood silently, looking up at Jones with his arms crossed, waiting for one of the two to talk first.

  “Let’s try this again. We believe your knowledge of the park could be mutually beneficial to both of us. What’s it going to take?” asked Jones.

  “I want to know why you want to find that spring so badly.”

  “Like I said before, that’s our business. I think we’re headed down that same old road. Just give me a dollar amount so we have a starting point.”

  As Jones was talking with Billy, Smith worked his way slowly to the passenger side of the pickup.

  “Starting point? Are you going to try to negotiate with me? I don’t think so. I’ll tell you what, I don’t know why this spring is so important to you but since you want to find it so badly, why don’t we become partners and whatever you make off of this scheme of yours we’ll share 50/50.”

  “I already have a partner,” said Jones. “And now I’ve lost all my patience, and I’m not going to play this game any more. Since you’ve decided to be so greedy, I’ll tell you how it’s going to go. You are going to take me to the spring, and you’re going to do it tonight.”

  Billy laughed out loud. “Why would I do that?”

  “Because if you don’t, there is a good chance there is going to be an accident.” He made a head movement in Smith’s direction. Billy looked back to his brothers. Smith was leaning against the truck door with a handgun pointed at Daryl and Donny. Billy made eye contact with Daryl. All he could do was shrug his shoulders. He had been caught unaware too.

  “There’s no sense in that. I’ll take you. Just leave them alone.”

  “I think we’re beyond that now. You come back here tonight at 10:00 o’clock. And I hope you actually do know where that spring is. Because if you don’t, it’s not going to end well for any of you.”

  “What about my brothers?”

  “They’re going to stay right here until you come through. Okay?”

  “What choice do I have?”

  “None.”

  Smith opened the truck door and motioned for Daryl and Donny to get out. Donny, with fear in his eyes, looked at Billy.

  “Billy, I don’t want to stay,” he pleaded. His eyes were becoming watery. “Don’t make me stay!”

  Daryl tried to comfort him, “Donny, it’ll be all right. I’ll be here with you. Calm down.”

  “No! I won’t stay here! Billy, don’t make me!” screamed Donny. He grabbed the steering wheel. “You can’t make me stay!”

  Jones looked around to see if anyone was paying any attention to the commotion Donny was making. There was no one in view.

  “Let Donny stay with me,” pleaded Billy. “You’ll still have Daryl.… Sorry, Daryl. Is that okay with you?” Daryl nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

  Jones looked at Smith. Donny was going to be nothing but trouble. Smith nodded.

  “Okay, you keep him. We don’t want to have to deal with him.”

  Billy went over to the driver’s window of the truck. “Donny. Donny. Look at me.”

  Donny looked up at him. Billy placed his hand on Donny’s hand, still gripping the steering wheel with a death grip, his knuckles white. “It’s okay,” he said with a reassuring smile. “You’re going to stay with me.” Donny tried a weak smile.

  Daryl got out of the truck and shut the door, walking in front of Smith up to the porch. Smith gave him a little shove to move him along.

  “Hey, there’s no sense in that,” said Billy.

  “You just make sure you’re here at 10:00 o’clock,” said Jones.

  Billy opened the door to the truck, but before he got into the truck, “Sorry, Daryl. I’ll be back.” He started the truck, backed out and drove away, Donny waving as they left.

  “You okay, Donny?” asked Billy.

  “Just fine. I can’t believe they fell for that,” said Donny, grinning from ear to ear.

  Billy, caught completely off guard, “Donny?”

  “Those two yahoos didn’t have a clue.” Donny was very pleased with himself.

  Billy broke out with a huge smile, his mouthful of teeth a big contrast to his dark tan.

  “You surprise me more every day,” said Billy.

  “Now what are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know. That didn’t go quite the way I expected. I’m going to have to figure something out.”

  “We’re going to figure something out,” Donny corrected.

  “That’s right, Donny, we. And as I see it, we have two choices. We can either try to get Daryl away from those guys before tonight or try to find out where that spring is.”

  “How are we going to find out about the spring?”

  “I don’t have a clue, and we only have a little over nine hours to figure it out.”

  “They’re not going to hurt Daryl are they?”

  “Not if I can help it.”

  Chapter Fifteen


  Before leaving the bar, we asked Mel if he knew where Benny lived. He wasn’t sure but thought he was staying at an old converted motel, about three blocks north of the bar, near the Animas River. It was an extended-stay place that rented by the week, month or even longer. He couldn’t remember the name, but it had a large sun on the sign out front. He assured us we couldn’t miss it.

  We drove north on Main until we came to the rusting sign, just as Mel had described, with Sundowner Motor Lodge spelled out across it in faded-out letters. It was evident this place had been here a long time and looked as though it hadn’t seen a paintbrush or had any other kind of maintenance in a long time. All the times I’d been past it I’d never paid any attention. Each unit was a stand-alone, probably no more than one hundred square feet, with a small carport. We pulled up and parked in front of the office. A water stained ‘No Vacancy’ sign hung in the front window. I tried the door to the office, which was locked. I knocked on the door. There was no response. I cupped my hands around my eyes and rested my forehead against the door’s window. The light was off, and I couldn’t see anyone around. I knocked on the door again, harder this time.

  “We got no rooms,” came a raspy voice from the other room.

  “I need some information. Does a Benny Doyle live here?” I asked.

  “You a cop?”

  “No. I just need to talk to him.”

  “It’ll cost ya,” said the voice followed by a little cackle.

  “How much?”

  “$20.”

  I looked at Rudy, “You got $20 on you? I haven’t been to the bank yet.”

  “I bet we can find him without her help.”

  “Oh, come on, it’ll save time.”

  He hesitated, then pulled out his wallet, took out a $20 bill and handed it to me.

  “Okay,” I said loudly, facing the door. “I’ve got your money right here. Now which unit is he in?”

  “Slip the money through the mail slot.”

  I folded the bill, pushed open the mail slot flap and slid it through. Then waited. A few moments later I watched through the window in the door as a little old woman slowly entered the office, head down, assisted by a walker. A cigarette hung from her lips, an inch of ash ready to fall off at any second. She came over to the door, leaning against the walker she reached down and picked up the money. As she straightened up, she looked me directly in the eyes, smiled, stuffed the twenty inside her housecoat, and turned to walk back out of the room.