Frustration filled her tone. “I had to take them with me. I barely got out of there without him shooting me dead. He didn’t have a gun on him at the top of the stairs but he sure did just before I managed to reach my horse. Lucky for me he wasn’t a good shot. Since I didn’t know him, I couldn’t count on that being a bad day of shooting for him. I knew the only thing left for me to do was get out of town before he found me and where I lived. I didn’t want to bring anything down on my mother’s head.”
“Are you sure Cathleen Cullen isn’t the one keeping you from returning?” Shadow asked. Too many things weren’t adding up right.
“What makes you feel that?” Hazel eyes met blue.
“Let’s say the man in her house was the owner of the ring. With her husband away in Austin, I’d say Mrs. Cullen has plenty of reason not to let you return to Jerkwater.”
“You mean he was . . . they were . . . ?”
“Hold it right there and put your hands up!” a man yelled from behind the wagon. The sound of horses moving toward them warned that he wasn’t alone. “That means you too, Odessa.”
“Hog leg,” Shadow whispered, slowly unlinking his arm from hers and bringing his hands up.
“What?”
At the moment, he couldn’t ease her confusion about his words to Timothy. All he could do was lean over and kiss the side of her head, adding one more hurried whisper, “Remember what I told you to do when you left the boxcar?”
“Jump, tuck . . .” She didn’t turn but started bringing her hands up slowly.
“And roll!” Shadow ordered.
Odessa jumped toward the team.
Shadow’s right hand flashed to his peacemaker. The hog leg slipped from its blanket. Two chambers emptied just as a resounding boom echoed from Timothy’s direction. A volley of gunfire answered them back.
Chapter 9
Gun smoke reeked all around Odessa as she dared to peer over one of the team’s flanks to see who was moaning. Please, God, don’t let it be Shadow. When she rose, pain echoed up her back. “Ouch!” she complained aloud, then remembered to duck again in case she had just made herself the perfect target. Scratch that. If he’s moaning, he’s alive. Let him be the moaner.
“Are you shot?” Shadow jumped down from the wagon to check her injuries.
His beloved face was all she needed to breathe again. “No, I got a splinter in my butt, of all places. Somebody shot the wagon up pretty good.” She allowed him to check her over and even to pull out the splinter. “Is Timothy all right?”
“He’s holding that hog leg on them at the moment.” Shadow kissed her, quickly and full of relief. “If you’re sure you’re okay, I need to tie them up.”
“They’re not dead?”
“I told you, Des, I’m done with people thinking I’m a killer. Tim did most of the scaring. Their horses didn’t take too kindly to the sound of that boom. One of the men was thrown and the other one won’t be using his trigger finger anytime soon.”
“What are we going to do with them?” She managed to work her way out from between the team and follow Shadow to the back of the wagon, where Tim stood. Cob and Harlin Barriger!
“We didn’t do nothing,” Harlin said sullenly, looking in disgust at the horse who had thrown him. “We were just having a little fun. That hog leg spooked my horse and that’s why my gun went off.”
“Made it go off several times, did it?” Timothy glared at the chubby man.
“Get me to a doctor,” his slender brother demanded, gripping his hand in pain. “I’m going to bleed to death.”
“What you did was try to kidnap my wife and shoot up our wagon.” Shadow grabbed the pistols that littered the dirt near both men, handed them to Odessa. “I’d say that’s on the wrong side of funning and reason enough to take you in to have a little talk with Sheriff James.”
“Your wife? That’s Odessa Kilmore,” Cob complained even louder. “She ain’t nothing but a dirty—”
“Finish that sentence and you’ll lose the whole hand.” Shadow’s tone echoed with deadly intent, the peacemaker already pulled and aimed.
Cob shut his mouth and wouldn’t look at Odessa anymore.
“You know these two?” Shadow asked her.
She nodded. “They work for the Cullens. Cob’s the bleeder. Harlin is Mr. Innocent.”
“You got some rope, Tim?”
Timothy’s head motioned toward the wagon. “Sure, Shadow. In the back under a sack of horse feed. Or we could use some of that barbed wire I’ve got rolled up in the corner.”
“Decent folks don’t use such things.” Harlin backed up a few inches. “Shadow? Shadow Rivers?”
“One and the same. And as the story goes, I ride the short side of decency. Considering what you intended for her, I’d say you’d best shut your mouth before I change my mind and show you how hateful I can be.” Shadow waited until Odessa found the rope. “Good thing for you she’s making me a better man.”
“Tim, give her the hog leg and tie that one up.” Shadow waited till Odessa took the surveyor’s rifle. “No offense, darling.”
“None taken.” She smiled, knowing he was thinking about her lack of ability with a rope. “It will be tighter if he does it.”
When they finished, Shadow had already untied Dollar, mounted him, and was handing Tim a bandanna. “Give this to the bleeder for his hand, then tie him to his partner.”
Once Shadow was certain Timothy had everything well in hand, he looked softly at Odessa. “Go on and ride up top with Tim. These two bushwhackers and I are going to take the lead.”
“You’re gonna make us walk back to town?” Cob looked up at Shadow.
“There’s a perfectly good wagon,” Harlin added his two cents.
“With too much in it to help loosen those ropes. No, boys, I want you right where I can keep my eye on you.” Shadow motioned for them to hit the trail. “Now get to walking.”
Chapter 10
A magnificent sunset streaked wide across the western horizon as they finally reached the edge of Jerkwater. The lake that had given the town its name shimmered with a million sparkles as the fading sun glinted off its surface. When the railroad had first come through this part of Texas, it had been forced to stop and take on water there, the engineer not knowing how much farther a water tower and a bigger town lay to the west. The crew had carried buckets from train to wallow and back again, jerking water for the steam. The town that built up since that time had simply taken on the name the men had given the whistle-stop.
A sense of homecoming engulfed Odessa as she caught sight of the business district and the people lining the thoroughfare. Peddlers hawking their wares, prospectors readying their wagons for places unknown, and men visiting the whiskey mills were moving about, showing that the place was thriving and unchanged since she had left it.
“Which way is the sheriff’s office?” Shadow asked from ahead of them.
“Keep heading straight,” she informed. “Then when you get to Main Street rein right. It’s at the end of the street near the land office.”
Timothy breathed a heavy sigh beside her. “It’s good to be here. I could use a nice meal and I plan to soak in a hot tub of water for the rest of the evening.”
“My mother’s got room for . . .” Odessa spoke without thinking, then realized a man like Timothy Hobart probably didn’t visit such places. She glanced at the two-story gallery standing at the north end of town with all its lights shining brightly downstairs and dimmer ones upstairs. The Gilded Garter was probably just getting wound up for the evening ahead. Odessa couldn’t help wondering what her mother was doing at the moment and whether or not she’d even missed Odessa.
As Timothy commanded the team to make the turn toward the sheriff’s office, people started looking up and noticing the two bound Barriger brothers and Shadow riding behind them. Their eyes immediately focused on the surveyor’s wagon that followed and the woman sitting next to the driver.
“Ain’t that the Ki
lmore gal sitting up there on that wagon?” someone announced.
“Somebody get the sheriff.”
“No need,” Timothy told the gathering crowd. “That’s where we’re headed.”
“What did the Barrigers do?” a peddler asked.
“Who’s he?” another pointed at Shadow.
Odessa recognized many of them, visitors at her mother’s house of business. Some acknowledged her directly. Others turned away as she rode past, not wanting to make eye contact. Those were the more upstanding of Jerkwater’s citizenry. Men who didn’t want to admit they recognized her well enough to know her name.
“Stop.” Shadow informed the Barrigers that their journey had come to an end. “Des, you got that hog leg?”
“Aimed straight at them,” she said, not caring that others were looking at her like she was truly the outlaw plastered on the poster.
“Keep it there until I get dismounted.” Shadow reined Dollar just past the men and dismounted near the hitching post in front of the sheriff’s office.
Tim stopped his team in the middle of the street. “I’ll take the rifle from here, Odessa. You hop on down and I’ll keep a bead on them. While you’re talking to the sheriff I’ll go to the livery, then I’ll join y’all there.”
“Thanks for everything, Timothy. We couldn’t have done it without you.” Shadow’s peacemaker motioned for the Barrigers to head on into the office.
“No need, Shadow. I’ve got quite the story to tell now. You bet I do.”
“Shadow? Shadow Rivers?” His name echoed through the crowd.
Odessa could almost feel the collective one step backward by all of them. His legend was known far and wide.
“You okay to get down by yourself?” Shadow eyed her quickly.
“I’m right behind you.” She hopped down to follow him through the now-open door to the sheriff’s office. Someone had gone in ahead of them to inform the lawman of their presence.
“What’s all this about?” The tall, muscular black man stood behind his desk, his hands resting on his hips near two pearl-handled Colts. When he caught sight of Odessa, his teeth flashed white against the ebony granite of his skin, revealing two gold fillings spaced just enough apart to make his teeth look like wolf fangs. “I should have known this had something to do with you.”
“Why do you say that, Sheriff?” Shadow scowled, sending furrows across his brow.
Sheriff James waved toward the two cells that had gone unnoticed until that point. “Seems to be family reunion night for the Kilmores.”
A gray-haired man with his head bowed looked up from where he sat on the cell cot. His elbows, one of them bandaged, were resting on his knees. Odessa recognized him almost immediately. It was the same man she’d seen in Cathleen Cullen’s house. “He’s the man who shot at me!”
“You sorry wad of tobacco spit!” cursed a lady’s voice Odessa recognized all too well from the cell next to his. She wore a gown of emerald satin and black lace that showed more cleavage than Odessa ever hoped to inherit.
“Mama! What the heck are you doing here?”
Maddy Kilmore grabbed her matching black parasol and poked its rib through the bars that separated the two cells. “I shot your father, that’s what the heck. Sorry cur was trying to hitch his holster on that Cullen woman’s bedpost when he had a perfectly good one waiting for him over at the Garter.” She glared daggers at her husband as she spat out the words, “And if I ever get out of here again, I’m gonna shoot you twice for shooting at your own daughter.”
“My daughter?” Moon Kilmore dodged the poking parasol and jumped up to race over to the front of the cell so he could take a better look at Odessa. He squinted, his hazel eyes sweeping her from head to toe. “She don’t look much like me.”
I shoot like you. Odessa realized where she’d gotten her lack of skill.
“Took after my ma,” Maddy bellowed, “and be glad she did. That kid hasn’t got one bad bone of yours in her body, thanks to justice. And she’s got more sense than I ever had.”
“She robbed the hell out of me,” Moon sounded almost proud. “Lucky all I had on me was my wedding ring.”
“You were the man in the alley, too?” Odessa hadn’t been sure of the man’s identity; she just knew it hadn’t been Mr. Cullen. She’d had far too much to drink that night and been running scared since. The man’s dark image evaded her no matter how much she’d tried to think it through.
“Your wedding ring!” Maddy’s face turned livid. “I told you if you ever took that off I’d haunt you till your dying day.” Suddenly, it dawned on her what he’d said and she looked at Odessa in puzzlement. “What does he mean you robbed him?”
“A fine way to meet one’s father, don’t you think?” Odessa whispered, wishing she were anywhere but there right now.
“She’ll explain everything just as soon as you lock up these two fellows, Sheriff.” Shadow nudged the Barrigers forward.
“Care to tell me what they did?” Sheriff James took the keys from the peg near his desk and started to open Maddy’s cell, then instead moved to Moon’s. “On second thought I’d best put the brothers in here with Moon. I can’t put the Kilmores together. They’ll kill each other for sure.”
Shadow began to explain how the Barrigers had tried to ambush them and take Odessa. The brothers joined Moon reluctantly, not sure whether his cell was a safer place than the other. Her father didn’t lay a hand on them even after he heard that they’d shot at her. But then he was guilty of the same crime. He’d have to choke himself too.
“You sorry excuse for blood donation.” Maddy shook her fist at Moon. “If you were any kind of a pa, you’d beat those two to a pulp with your bare hands.”
Moon shrugged. “What do you want me to do about it, Mad? You done shot me up. I’m one armed. You got to give me a little healing time, then I’ll take care of them.”
About that time Timothy walked in, escorting Cathleen Cullen with him. “This lady asked if I’d heard anything about the capture of the woman who robbed her. I believe that she said her name was Odessa Kilmore.”
Odessa realized he was pretending not to know her so as not to give anything away to Cathleen.
“Now what?” Sheriff James looked at Odessa sternly. “Just how many people were you supposed to have robbed?”
“I didn’t rob anybody,” she insisted, finally telling the lawman how everything had happened and why she’d run from town. “Somebody just kept trying to stop me from coming back home. We found out from the Barrigers that it was Cathleen who had men gunning for me.”
“You fools!” The town matron glared at the Barrigers as she began backing away. “I told you to say nothing.”
“We didn’t say anything, we swear,” the slender of the two argued.
Odessa grabbed Cathleen. “I thought maybe it was because you thought I meant to rob you or maybe that I saw him”—she nodded at her father—“in your house. But now I know it’s all about the five thousand dollars. You just told on yourself.”
“What five thousand dollars?”
“The money you probably took from your husband’s account while he was gone to Austin. I bet you and my father were planning to do something with it. Maybe leave town with it, weren’t you? I think maybe we should ask Mr. Cullen to join us and find out if he knows he has that kind of money missing from the bank.”
“Your father? Maddy Kilmore’s husband?” Her chin lifted haughtily. “I thought that was all a rumor the whore spread.”
Odessa reared back and threw a punch at Cathleen, sending her sprawling. “Don’t you bad-mouth my mother ever again. Got me?”
“Like I said earlier”—Shadow winked at Odessa—“innocent ways.”
Odessa giggled and faced the sheriff, stretching her hands out in front of her, crossing them. “Might as well lock me up, Cassius. It looks like you’re going to have to jail the whole family.”
“I don’t think Mrs. Cullen will press charges, do you Sheriff?” Timothy h
elped the lady up. “And frankly, Odessa, there are too many witnesses that can testify that you were provoked and the results were justifiable.”
“I’ve got only one thing to say to all of this.” Cassius James looked from Maddy to Moon to Odessa then Cathleen. “Where the hell am I going to put her?”
“Not here, that’s for darn sure. I’ll pull every red hair out of that saintly sister’s head for messing with my husband and daughter.”
“Now, Mama,” Odessa tried to calm her. “Don’t do anything else. I’ve got to think of a way to make bail for you.”
“Or break her out,” Shadow whispered for her ears alone.
Odessa giggled again, relieved that at least it all seemed settled now, if being a part of this rowdy family could ever be called settled.
“I can make my own bail,” Maddy informed. “I put up that thousand-dollar reward money for you myself. Now that you’re found, I guess I can take it back.”
“You put it up?” Odessa had thought Cathleen had been the one. “I assumed Mrs. Cullen had.”
“You’re the best thing that me and your pa ever did together. I figured somebody would dang sure track you down and bring you home for that kind of money.”
“Or shoot her.” Moon stated what he most likely would have done.
“Thanks, Mama. I know you did it for the right reason.”
“Just like I’m going to do this.” Maddy’s parasol pointed toward the wall of posters beside the sheriff’s desk. “Cassius, you see that there poster at the far end about halfway down? Yeah, that one right there. It says there’s five hundred dollars reward for Moon. I reckon that’s mine since I shot him and brought him in for justice.”
“Well, technically, Maddy, justice wasn’t exactly what you had on your mind but, yes, you brought him in. The money’s yours.”
She nodded at Odessa. “I want you to see that she gets it. She deserves it for no other reason than her pa shot at her and, after leaving her high and dry for nearly twenty years, that’s the least he owes her.”
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