Read Online Wanted! Belle Starr! by J.T. Edson - Free Book Online Page B

jewelry, looted further west from a
hunting party of European aristocrats, Icke had put aside his
reluctance to travel beyond the Mississippi River and come to
Mulrooney. One of the stipulations of the deal was that he must be
prepared to hand over the fifteen thousand dollars, quoted as the
price for the illicit merchandise, in cash when it was delivered to
him. He had been warned that, should the sum not be immediately
forthcoming, the loot would be taken elsewhere. As the stolen
property was worth far more and, in fact, could be returned to its
owners at a very good profit, without any questions being asked, he
had known it would present no problems for the thieves to find
another fence ready, willing and eager to negotiate. They would not
hesitate before going to somebody else.
    Considering it could prove the most
lucrative single deal in which he had ever participated, Icke had
done as instructed. Because of wishing to avoid arousing suspicions
with regards to possessing finances far beyond anything produced
through his literary and political activities, he kept only a small
bank account in his own name. However, having had no desire to
leave a trail which might be traced back to him, he had been
unwilling to make use of one of the accounts he maintained under
various aliases. Therefore, he had brought the money with him. It
had not come from any of his accounts, but was in bills he had
acquired following a robbery in New York, bills which were still
too ‘hot’ to be passed through any legitimate outlet. Nevertheless,
provided they were unaware of this which he considered likely to be
the case he was hoping they would be accepted by the unsuspecting
Western outlaws.
    Always wary, Icke was disinclined to keep
such a large sum of even ‘clean’ money upon his person, hidden in
his room, or leave it in the safe of the manager of the Railroad
House Hotel. To avoid relying upon any of these methods, he had
secreted the fifteen thousand dollars in a safety deposit box at
the National Trust Bank. As yet, there had not been any word from
the outlaws and he had seen no need to withdraw it.
    The situation, the receiver realized, had
changed with dramatic suddenness due to the information he had
received!
    Once the Federal bank examiners found the
deficit created by Dennis Hobert’s peculations, Icke was certain he
would not be able to retrieve his property from the safety deposit
box until the matter had been settled. Nor was this the worst of
the situation. Should the investigations of the examiners require
it, they were empowered to open and check the contents of the
safety deposit boxes. If this happened, it was possible the true
source of the money he had left would be discovered. He was all too
aware of the consequences for him to regard the contingency with
equanimity.
    Yet another matter had caused perturbation
to Icke as he heard the news. Past experience had taught him that
criminals, who rarely trusted any fence too far, were disinclined
to wait for payment to be forthcoming. In fact, he had already been
warned by the present gang that such would prove the case.
Therefore he had been alarmed by the thought that the peculations
of the teller could be endangering the most potentially lucrative
negotiations of their kind in which he had ever been engaged.
    On leaving the hotel, the receiver found
himself wishing the two bodyguards he had hired were with him!
    Being disinclined to trust the outlaws from
whom he was expecting to purchase the jewelry, the receiver had had
a contact in Kansas engage Stephen Forey and Lee Potter as
bodyguards. However, he had found reason to require their
assistance even sooner than anticipated. Discovering he was being
followed by a young man with reasons to hate him bitterly, he had
decided to take precautions. The trap he had laid did not produce
the required results. Despite the failure of the two hard-cases to
kill Geoffrey Crayne, which they had attributed to a large and