Deadly Lode (Trace Brandon Book 1) Read Online Free

’ s always out there , and if he gets wind of a new find, he could be trouble. ”
    “ Agreed. ”
    After my meeting with Will, I sent the split rock - chip samples to a lab in Silver Valley, Idaho. I purposely avoided any local labs . I f the assays were as good as I expected, I didn ’ t want t he Virus alerted .
     
     
    I drove back to Winthrop on Sunday and checked in to the W . The next morning I was having coffee in the hotel restaurant , when Ken Hodg e s walked in.
    “ Hey, Trace, good to see you again. ”
    “ Howdy, Ken . H ave a seat. ”
    Ken was in his forties, dark haired and stout from years of field work. We both ordered steak and eggs , and got down to business.
    “ I ’ ve got all the claims plotted, including l at - l ong co-ordinates. We ’ ll be able to put the l ocation m onuments and corners in by GPS , ” Ken said, handing me a spreadsheet .
    “ Perfect. I want to get all the location monuments in as fast as possible. ”
    “ We ’ ll get them all in today. All the claim location notices are signed by me as Agent for Reserve E&P, LLC, as you instructed . Everything is ready to record with the Okanogan County c lerk. ”
    Reserve E&P, LLC was a Nevada corporation I ’ d set up for claim - staking projects .
    “ Good job, Ken. Let me have the l ocation n otices after we finish eating . I ’ ll drive up to Okanogan and get them filed today . ”
    “ Okay . Once the monuments are in the ground , the claims are valid. We ’ ll finish staking the corners in a couple of days . ”
    After breakfast Ken and his crew headed up to the Sullivan Mine . I jumped in my Bronco and head ed to the County Courthouse in Ok anogan .
     
     
    After a long day, Ken and I met for supper at the W .
    “ How ’ d it go today, Ken? ”
    “ No problems . T he terrain is pretty steep, but thirty claims are not much for my crew. All the location monuments are in , and even some of the corners. We ’ ll knock it out tomorrow. ”
    “ Perfect. I filed all the notices with the c ounty c lerk and will send copies of the stamped, recorded , notices to the B ureau of Land Management, in a few days. ”
    “ When the claims get posted on the BLM website, t he Virus will likely see them, ” Ken said. “ I hear he has a file clerk doing nothing but looking for recent claim activity. I also hear she ’ s damned good - looking. ”
    I laughed . “ W ell, good - looking or not, they ’ ll have a tough time messing with our claims . ”

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 3
    I t had been a couple of weeks since I ’ d filed the claims with the Bureau of Land Management. The claims were now readily visible to anyone research ing the BLM ’ s website .
    I ’ d just gotten to my office when the phone rang.
    “ Geology office . Trace Brandon , speaking. ”
    “ Mr. Brandon, Cyrus McSweeny here. ”
    Jesus, that didn ’ t take long, I thought. “ Yes, s ir , Mr. McSweeny, what can I do for you? ”
    “ Have we met, Trace? ”
    “ No s ir , not officially . B ut some of my clients have , well,  become acquainted with you. ”
    “ That ’ s one way to say it. Listen, Trace, I see where you r LLC h as staked some claims around the old Sullivan Mine. ”
    “ Yes, that ’ s correct. ”
    “ I thought the mine was closed by a big landslide in the forties? ”
    “ She was, but this spring ’ s flood exposed the mine portal. ”
    “ I see. Were you able to get in the old workings and grab some samples? ”
    “ Yes, I poked around a bit a nd collected a few samples. ”
    “ If you don ’ t mind me asking, since you have it pretty well tied up, how ’ s it look? ”
    “ Well, I could only sample the first level . T he second level is flooded. ”
    “ Are you sure about water in the second level? ”
    “ Yep, pretty sure , ” I replied, thinking back to my full gainer into the flooded winze.
    “ Well, how did level one look to you? ”
    “ Good enough to plan some core drilling. ”
    “ I see . Would you be