Wildstar

At the ominous click, Burke froze.

"No sudden moves," Devlin said softly.

Slowly the Englishman turned his head to stare into the shadows at the intruder. Gesturing with his revolver, Dev­lin indicated the adjacent chair. "Please join me for a moment, Mr. Burke."

"At gunpoint? Is that really necessary?"

"I have something to say to you, and I want to be cer­tain I have your undivided attention."

After a slight hesitation, Burke moved to the other chair and sat down, crossing one elegantly clad leg over the other at the knee. "Very well, I'm listening."

Devlin had to admire the man's coolness, but it had the effect of raising his own blood temperature. He thought of Jess the night of the cave-in—her terror, her vulnerability, her surrender—and he wanted to rearrange Burke's face with his fists. Violently.

Resisting the temptation, Devlin lowered the revolver and laid it carefully on his lap. "I'm here to discuss the lit­tle accident at the Wildstar last night."

"I heard about that. Yes indeed, dangerous thing, dyna­mite. My condolences to you and Miss Sommers. It cannot have been pleasant, being trapped underground."

"Spare me the bullshit, Burke. You and I both know you arranged it."

There was a moment of silence.

"Very well, Mr. Devlin. Why don't you come to the point of your visit?"

"I'm here to issue a warning. I'm now a partner in the Wildstar mine."

There was another pause. "And this should concern me?"

"If you have half the intelligence I credit you with, yes. Fighting me will not be the same as fighting Riley Sommers and his daughter."

"No? And why not?"

"Because I can afford to be ruthless. And I've had a good teacher. You told me you knew a railroad baron in Chicago by the name of Devlin. C.E. has a reputation for being remorseless in his business dealings. In fact, he could put even you to shame. I know because he's my father."

"Indeed."

The remark was uttered without inflection, but Devlin could almost see Burke's sharp mind churning as he di­gested this new information and recalculated the odds of success against someone of C. E. Devlin's stature.

"My father taught me a great deal about winning re­gardless of the cost," Devlin said levelly. "And on this is­sue I intend to win."

"I suppose you intend to tell me what it is you think you'll be winning?"

"If you insist. I can think of only two reasons why you would want the Wildstar mine so badly that you would kill for it."

"I did not try to kill for it, Mr. Devlin."

Even as he issued the denial, Burke shifted in his chair—-a gesture which, if made by any other man, would have been called squirming. He actually looked distressed, Devlin realized with surprise. Was it possible the mine ex­plosion had been an accident after all?

"The first," he continued, "is that you suspect the Wildstar of bearing rich ore. If, let's say, you happened to deliberately conceal your knowledge at the time of pur­chase so you could acquire the property at a fraction of its real value—and if, furthermore, you used intimidation tac­tics to coerce the mine owner into selling to you . . . Well, you don't need me to tell you that any court in the country would consider that fraud." "And the second reason?"

"Which is the most likely one, in my opinion. You've struck a rich vein in the Lady J mine which belongs to the Wildstar."

When Burke remained conspicuously silent, Devlin flashed a cool smile. "I keep a staff of expensive legal tal­ent on retainer, and they tell me some interesting facts about Colorado mining law. Whoever owns the apex of a vein owns the silver. If a lode surfaces on a man's claim, he can follow it all the way to China if he chooses, even if it passes out of bounds of his claim. Even if it crosses several claims. No one else can legally touch it. I think the Wildstar owns the apex of a vein you struck, which makes it Wildstar silver you're mining. That's why you wanted to buy out Sommers."

Burke laced his fingers in his lap. "I suppose you have proof of these farfetched allegations?"

"No. But I don't imagine you're willing to let a reputa­ble surveyor into the Lady J to inspect your workings in order to disprove my allegations, either."

When Burke didn't answer, Devlin relaxed back in his chair. "Perhaps I should mention what I intend to do about my suspicions if we can't reach an agreement tonight. My first step will be to get an injunction to prevent you from mining Wildstar property further. If I bring suit, all opera­tions in the Lady J will have to halt. You won't be hauling ore out of the Lady J for a decade, if then. I'll see to it that the case is tied up in court for years. And I have the capital to withstand costly litigation, even if Sommers doesn't. My second step will be to hire my own army of gunmen and turn Silver Plume into an armed camp. As a pillar of this community, Mr. Burke, is that what you want?"