Page 104 of Freedom Mine
“I just remembered something. There was a long stretch before Mac died that he stopped visiting Garitt. Mac got really quiet anytime someone brought up Garitt’s name. We all learned to drop the subject really fast. What if Mac knew?”
“And you think he’d let it slide? Not bother to tell anyone that a slave had killed his friend, then taken his chip and assumed his identity? Now you’re the one reaching.”
Jace headed for the office, and Alli followed. Jace scrounged through the desk, pulled out a slim box, and started pouring through the correspondence.
“Here. It’s a note from Garitt to Mac. A dispute over the fence. Garitt ends it by saying he’ll fix it this time but never wants to see Mac again. Warns him to stay off his property. Threatens that he’ll shoot him if he ever trespasses.” Jace tossed the note onto the desk in disgust as he sank into the chair. “Property dispute ends a friendship. Nothing that will help Kayo.”
Alli picked up the note. “It’s dated eight years ago. Was Kayo here at that point?
“Yeah, but I wasn’t.”
“So, Kayo knew Garitt back then. He knew Mac’s Garitt and the one we know as Garitt. Certainly, Kayo would have noticed if one day a man’s appearance suddenly changed, or the man was suddenly years younger.” Alli slumped against the wall. They’d made no progress what-so-ever.
Jace’s eyes slowly rose toward her. “Would he?” he asked, his tone as serious as ever.
“Of course, he would,” she said, not sure what he was implying.
Jace took the photo from the desk and shoved it in front of her, slamming his finger down on Kayo’s image. “Look at him. He was a shell of a man. Didn’t know day from night half the time. This was taken a year before I arrived, and that’s how I remember him. Dazed, afraid, lost. Sure, he was here when this photo was taken, when Mac’s friend Garitt visited, but he wasn’t aware of much. That’s why Mac took such a special interest in him. Kayo was more lost than any of us.”
And now Kayo was back in the cage, after all these years. She had to get him out.
“You’re dead-on, Alli. This Garitt isn’t the real Garitt,” Jace said, his voice unwavering. “And if he’s a slave, then he can’t own Kayo. This is what we need!”
“No, what we need is proof,” she said as she pulled another note from the file, afraid to let herself get too excited this early. They couldn’t bring conjecture before the Magistrate.
Jace grabbed a handful of notes and kept reading. His intensity was comforting. He wouldn’t give up, and for that she was thankful. As she read through the notes, nothing stood out, though she found the history between the men quite interesting.
“In this one, Mac warns Garitt to shut his mine down, that it’s too unstable. Huh. I didn’t know Garitt had any mines. I thought he was all about breeding harkifa. Do they pay as well as the mines?”
“No, but it’s a more stable business than relying on finding a vein in an unstable mine. On the other hand, as you saw, the mines can be quite profitable. Garitt’s offered to buy the mine over the years, but Kayo always refused, with good reason. It’s our only source of income.” Jace tossed his pile of letters onto the desk. “Reading through these notes isn’t getting us anywhere.”
Alli held one of the older and more recent notes side-by-side. Hope blossomed in her soul. “Can we get someone to analyze these letters? It looks like two different handwritings to me.”
He leaned over her shoulder to view the notes. “Even if it is, it’s not enough. Garitt can claim he suffered a hand injury.”
“A retina scan, then,” she said, the answer coming to her when she thought of the scan Kayo had undergone before they took him away. “If the man we know as Garitt stole that chip, his retina scan won’t match what’s on file for the real Hawk Garitt.”
“The Magistrate won’t do anything at our request, let alone a retina scan unless we have proof.” Jace paused, seeing the smile she could no longer contain. “Speak up, Alli. How the hell do you think we’re going to get Garitt to submit to a retina scan?”
“We kidnap him and take him off Varkos.”
