The Union Read Online Free Page A

wages for miners."
    "You've done your homework."
    "I've read her letters to McCullough."
    Patterson laughed, but it sounded hollow. "Then you know she expects McCullough to marry her."
    "I do."
    "And?"
    "It won't come to that."
    "Won't it? What are you going to do, stall?"
    "Exactly. Bill McParland from the Denver office keeps yammering at me that things here will explode any day. Shouldn't be too hard to come up with excuses for the delay. I've always been a good liar."  
    "Aren't we all?" Patterson said. "What happens when the operation is over?"
    No good trying to pin me down, Patterson , Dietz thought. "The usual. McCullough goes out of town on business, only to meet his date with death. I'll send his things back along with a sympathetic note from some fictitious lawman. Sound good?"
    Patterson frowned. "Miss Byrne is a good woman. Her motives seem pure, and given a legitimate union, righteous. I'd hate to see her hurt."
    Dietz didn't like the senior agent's accusation. "You going to wire McParland and send me back?"
    "No." Patterson shook his head. "Just cautioning. Marriage is nothing to trifle with."
    His words and sorrowful tone set Dietz back. Patterson had only recently lost his young wife. Coming from him, empathy and sympathy for a grieving spouse weren't surprising.  
    "Won't come to that. Did you know her brother Michael?" Dietz asked, changing the subject.
    "Slightly."
    "What was he like?"
    "You knew McCullough," Patterson said. "I don't expect Michael Byrne was much different, just another violent anarchist."  
    Considering his first impression of Keely, it took Dietz a moment to digest what Patterson said.
    "Miss Byrne thinks he was murdered." Patterson adjusted himself in the saddle.
    "Was he?"
    "It was an accident as far as I could tell. Tunnel caved in on him. Took hours to dig him out. For obvious reasons Michael Byrne was not well liked by the owners. Though, shortly before his death he seemed to have a slight change of heart, or maybe the depth of the violence finally got to him. Anyway, he started preaching about negotiation. Some of his fellow miners thought he'd gone soft.
    "Once they realized that the tunnel had collapsed maybe they could have sent for reinforcements sooner to dig it out. But that should have been the foreman's responsibility, and he was a union man and good friend of Byrne's. On any account, Byrne was dead when they got to him." Patterson looked at him. "How do you feel about unions?"
    Dietz shrugged. He held no particular opinion.
    "Used to sympathize with them myself," Patterson said. "Almost turned down this job. Didn't want to side against the working man. But these men aren't out for the common good. They're anarchists, plain and simple. Most of the leaders are straight off the boat from Ireland. They've taken their orange and green mentality right to the mining conflict. Their credo seems to be kill them, maim them, terrorize them until you get what you want . And when you get that, terrorize until you get more.'" Patterson shook his head. "These men are more than a threat to the Valley. They're a threat to the entire nation. If their mentality takes hold nationwide, we will be in anarchy. No citizen will be safe."
    Patterson's words chilled Dietz.
    "Make no mistake, Dietz. The mine union leaders are a vicious bunch of murderers. They're at war, and they'll eliminate anyone they perceive to be the enemy. Watch your backside."
    Dietz snorted. "Haven't I already?"
    Patterson laughed with him.  
    "So what about you and me?" Dietz asked. "A little bird told me you're under suspicion for being a spy."
    Patterson's eyes lit up. "Is that what McParland said?" He laughed. "I'm holding my own so far. No one's been able to gather any irrefutable evidence against me yet."
    "Still, it sounds like McCullough and Allison shouldn't become good friends."
    Patterson nodded. "Isn't that the point of redundancy? Two operatives, one goes down, the other covers. No, I'd say for safety's sake