Until Tomorrow

by Rosanne Bittner

  Cole took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair, then replaced his hat. “The fact is, believe it or not, I’d go help your son whether you make me any promises or not. I’m not the cold-blooded bastard you think I am. That’s your area. You cut men down by deceit and cheating. You use legal means to do it, then lie about it and present yourself as a fine, upstanding citizen. You’d just better keep your promise to keep your mouth shut about me and Addy. It’s your son I care about helping, not you. I still won’t hesitate to come after you if you screw things up for me and Addy.”

  Grant’s eyes lit up with hope. “I’ll keep my promise. I just want my son back alive.”

  “I’m taking a chance going out there with you alone. This had better not be a setup, or you’ll go down first.”

  “It’s no setup. Fact is, I’m scared to death. Ed Foley blames his son’s death on me, but if something happens to my own boy, that will be my fault, for what I did to Foley. I couldn’t live with that.”

  Cole folded his arms, the thin cigar still between his teeth. “Well, well. Grant Breckenridge has a human side after all.”

  Grant raised his chin defensively. “Doesn’t everyone? You were willing to get yourself hanged just to keep me from marrying Addy. Men do strange things for strange reasons, don’t they?”

  Their eyes met in new-found respect, but Addy could see they each held that respect grudgingly. They had not expected to be put in such a position.

  “When do we leave?” Cole asked.

  “Sunrise. I’ll leave my office at six. I already took fifty thousand out of my account this afternoon, soon as I read the letter. The bank was getting ready for a shipment of money to a bank in Denver, so I was lucky they had that much. The bank here doesn’t generally keep much more than fifty thousand on hand at any time. It’s not safe in these gold towns. Stuart Collingswood over at the bank had a lot of questions. I just told him I was making a business deal tomorrow that I didn’t want to talk about yet. The money is in my own safe at my office.” He picked up his rifle. “You wait for me up behind Snow Peak Mine. I don’t want anyone in town to see us riding out together. I have to be seen leaving alone. Do you know the road behind Snow Peak Mine? It’s pretty deserted up there.”

  “I’ll find it. I’ll head straight there at sunrise.”

  Grant nodded. “You save my son, and I’ll give you some shares in the Jamesway. Between that and the Hard Luck, you’ll be a rich man. You can give Addy a good life.” He turned and faced Addy. “I wanted you from the first day I laid eyes on you, Addy Kane, and I’m used to getting what I want. I guess in this case, I lose.”

  “You can’t buy people, Grant,” she answered defiantly. “And you can’t force feelings where they don’t exist. Do you really think we could have been happy?”

  Grant glanced at Cole before replying. “I just figured you’d come to your senses, especially if there was only friendship between you and Cole. It’s obvious it was a lot more than that, or I wouldn’t have found him here late at night with you in your robe. Now I don’t care. All I care about is James.”

  Addy blinked back tears. “Sometimes God answers prayer in strange ways. I’ve been sitting here praying for a way out of this mess, and here you are asking for Cole’s help. I just hope he doesn’t get hurt or killed himself.”

  Grant’s mouth moved into a defeated smirk. “Cole Parker knows how to watch out for himself.” He looked at Cole. “See you bright and early. I’m trusting you to save my ass, too, not just James’s. It would be real easy for you to hesitate and let one of Foley’s men put a bullet in me, wouldn’t it?”

  Cole stepped closer, his blue eyes drilling into the man. “I guess you’ll just have to trust me, won’t you?”

  They glared at each other a moment. “I guess I will. Addy says you’re a good man. I guess I’ll find out. I’ll save the thankyou’s until it’s over and you’ve come through for me.”

  “The only thank you I want is to be left alone and be able to start seeing Addy openly.”

  Grant nodded, then turned and left. Cole looked at Addy. “Strange turn of events.”

  She walked closer and moved her arms around him. “Be careful, Cole.”

  He kissed her hair. “I’m always careful, except when it comes to you. I’m sorry for all the hurt and sorrow and confusion I’ve caused, Addy.” He pulled away reluctantly. “I’d better get some rest if I’m going to get up before sunrise.”

  She looked up at him, touched his cheek. “I’ll be praying for you.”

  “You just promise to help Elizabeth Donnavan if she needs it, if something happens to me. Her parents are Harold and Mary Donnovan. They live not far from the Denver Inn. Helping that little girl makes me feel like I’m doing something to make up for not being able to save Patty.”

  “That’s the main reason you’re doing this, isn’t it? If you’re free, you can help Sassy’s little girl.”

  He touched her chin, leaned closer. “And be with you.” He kissed her.

  “I know I said you should do this, but I’m afraid for you. If Ed Foley is as crazy with revenge as Grant thinks—”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be all right.”

  She searched his eyes. “Do we dare believe we can really be together?”

  He grasped her face between strong hands, leaned down to kiss her gently. “We have to. The thought of it will give me all the courage and skill I’ll need to do this. I love you, Addy Kane. It feels good to say it.” Reluctantly he turned and walked into the kitchen, then stopped to look back at her once more before heading out the door.

  Addy put a hand to her stomach and closed her eyes. “God be with you, Cole,” she whispered, “and with James Breckenridge.”

  Grant rode cautiously along the remote trail behind the Snow Peak Mine, a briefcase full of money tied to the pommel of his saddle. It was a cold morning, and his horse’s breath came out in puffs of steam. It was dead quiet here, and he wondered if Cole Parker had skipped out on him, what he should do if he had. Without Cole, he and his son were both dead men.

  “Keep riding.” The voice came from somewhere in the surrounding rocks. Grant scanned his perimeter, but he could see no one.

  “Cole?”

  “I’m here. You keep going. You’re being followed. I’ll take care of him.”

  “They’ll hear gunshots.”

  “Trust me. Just keep going. I’ll catch up. Hurry it up before the man trailing you hears us talking.”

  Grant breathed a sigh of relief that Cole had at least shown up. He felt better already, but his whole body tingled with fear for James. Maybe the boy was already dead. Whatever Cole did, it might not be soon enough. He rode forward, heading along the winding trail and down into a deep ravine.

  Cole watched until Grant was out of sight. He’d had an eye on him from a high viewpoint earlier and had noticed a man following him out of town. He figured it was one of Ed Foley’s men, probably planning to stay behind and make sure Grant could not beat a retreat. In Cole’s book, one less man now would give him an even bigger edge later. This fellow was going to get his due. He waited, watched, listened. Finally he heard the sound of a horse’s hooves. He’d tied Shadow in a stand of thick trees behind him, where he couldn’t be spotted, and had waited behind a pile of tumbled rocks, which in turn were hidden by scrubby brush.

  He smiled to himself at how this country was made for outlaws. So many places to hide—caves, crevices, rocks, brush, ravines. A man could get lost out here in minutes, or lose anybody trailing him. Finally the man following Grant appeared, following the winding trail from a steep drop below up to Cole’s level. Cole waited, moved higher onto the rock formation so that when the man passed by, he was above him. He recognized him as one who’d been in the Wildcat the day of the shootout with two of Ed’s men.

  Cole quietly slipped a hunting knife from his boot, then sprang onto the man’s back, knocking him from his horse. Both men tumbled to the ground wit
h grunts, and Cole managed to roll the man onto his back and straddle him. He pressed the huge knife blade to his throat, nicking the skin. “How many are there?” he growled.

  The man stared at him, wide-eyed. “Cole Parker!”

  “Hurry it up!” Cole fumed, trying to keep his voice down. “You want to die for somebody else’s revenge? It’s not worth it!”

  The man swallowed. “Ed promised us a lot of money, and shares in whatever mine he claims for himself once he strikes gold. We were all going to go up to Montana. They’re finding new veins up there every day, seems like.”

  “Just tell me how many men there are up ahead with Foley. I don’t have much time.”

  “Three,” he answered, pretending to give up. “Plus Ed.”

  Cole grasped his shirt. “Get up,” he said, moving off of him. “I’m going to tie you up and you’re going to sit here until I come back for you. You’re going to town to explain all of this to Sheriff Watson.” He removed the man’s gun from its holster and threw it aside, waving the knife at him in a signal to get moving.

  Foley’s man realized Cole couldn’t use that famous gun of his without giving this away to Ed and the others. He gauged himself to be just as big as Parker, probably just as strong. He slowly rose then turned to walk to an aspen tree where Cole pointed. But before reaching it he suddenly swung around, raising one leg as he whirled and landing it into Cole’s side, knocking him off balance. He dived for his gun, but Cole intercepted him, ramming the knife into his leg.

  The man cried out, grabbing his thigh. The wound made him even angrier, and when Cole got up, he put his shoulder into Cole’s thighs and tackled him to the ground again. Both men rolled and wrestled for the knife. The man grabbed Cole’s right arm with both his hands as Cole tried to stab him. He was on his back, Cole on top of him again. Cole gouged at his eyes with his left hand, but the man hung on, jerking hard and forcing Cole’s arm down and inward.

  Cole grunted as he felt the knife blade sink into his own left side. Immediately he realized he could lose everything if he didn’t win this battle. Addy! She’d be left alone after all. He could see her face, hear her calling to him. From somewhere deep in his mind he had the sense to reach over to his right side with his left hand, while the man he fought with rolled him onto his back and kept shoving the knife even deeper. He hadn’t wanted to use his gun, but now he had no choice. He managed to get it free, shoved it into the man’s belly and pulled the trigger. To his great relief, because the gun was already buried in the man’s middle when it was fired, the shot was muffled. It only made a light bang that probably couldn’t be heard for very far and could easily be mistaken for noise from the distant town.

  The man’s eyes bulged in surprise, and blood began to ooze from his mouth. Cole grimaced as he managed to shove him off, and as the man rolled away he continued to cling to Cole’s knife hand, pulling the knife out of Cole’s side as he flopped onto his back, a bloody hole in his belly. Cole, panting from the scuffle, looked down at himself, opening his jacket to see he was bleeding badly at his left side. “Damn!” he muttered. He couldn’t let this stop him. If he was going to keep Addy Kane, he had to save James and Grant Breckenridge from Ed Foley. Grant was getting close by now.

  He rolled to his knees, his gun still in his left hand. He managed to get to his feet, re-loaded the chamber left empty from the bullet he had put into Foley’s man. He shoved the gun into its holster, and stumbled over to pick up the other man’s gun. He looked over where the man lay, and it was obvious he was dead.

  Pain ripped through his side, and he pressed his hand to the wound, praying he could keep his senses long enough to do what he had to do. Groaning and panting, he managed to get to Shadow and mount up. Already his pants were getting blood soaked at the waist. He kept his right hand to his side, leaning over slightly as he held the wound, futilely trying to stop the bleeding, while he took the reins in his left hand and led Shadow down the hill and out along the path Grant had taken. There was no time to lose!

  Grant’s heart fell when he reached the clearing where he and Ed Foley had once investigated together for gold. There was a gnarled old pine tree that stood alone, and under that pine tree was a crate. A man was standing on it with a noose around his neck. His hands were tied behind his back. The crate was positioned so that the man’s feet barely touched it, giving him just enough support so that he couldn’t completely choke on the noose.

  “James,” he whispered. Another man stood under the tree, and three more sat at a campfire nearby. Grant took a deep breath and rode closer, making himself visible, wondering what it was like to die. If Cole wasn’t close behind him, that’s what was going to happen to him today.

  “Dad!” James called out when he saw him. Grant sensed fear and desperation in the young man’s raspy voice. What a hell of a thing to have happen on his first trip to Central. God only knew what Ed Foley had told the boy about the incident over the mine, about his own son’s death. Grant didn’t care if what he’d told the boy made James hate him, as long as his son didn’t die today.

  “It’s all right, James,” he tried to reassure the boy.

  “Well, well! If it isn’t the great Grant Breckenridge, come crawling with his tail between his legs, and fifty thousand dollars in his fancy briefcase,” Ed Foley said. He strutted out toward Grant, clean-shaven, wearing a neat suit and his ever-present spectacles, as though he had dressed for a business meeting. “Welcome to our little camp.” He turned and looked at James. “How do you like our leading entertainment of the day?” he asked.

  Grant wasn’t sure where his next breath would come from. He was unarmed, and there were four men here. Two of them walked over to where James stood on the crate. “Let him down, you bastard!” he told Ed.

  “Oh, I’m not so sure I need to,” Foley answered with a pompous smile.

  “Dad, help me,” the boy croaked. It was obvious he’d been beaten first, probably hadn’t had any water. Grant had never felt so helpless. Where was Cole? Was he watching? Ready? He’d stayed behind to wait for a fifth man. What if something had happened to him?

  “I’ve kept my end of the bargain!” Grant growled. “The money is right here on my horse. Now keep your end of the deal and cut my son down!”

  Ed just continued to grin with the pleasure of making Grant Breckenridge squirm. “Throw the money down. Then you get down. I’ll have a look inside the briefcase.”

  Grant untied the briefcase and let it fall, then dismounted. His horse skittered sideways, and Grant stood facing Foley. “I kept my promise,” he repeated. “Please get my son down off of there.”

  Foley opened the briefcase, while his third man walked closer, holding a gun on Grant.

  “By God, I think it’s all here, Clancy,” Foley finally spoke up. “What do you think of that?”

  Clancy Ives, a former Chadwick employee who had left when Ed was fired, grinned eagerly. “I think we’re rich men, Ed.”

  “That we are.” Foley rose, facing Grant. He stuck his thumbs into his vest pockets and paraded around Grant like a strutting rooster. “How does it feel, Grant, being the one who has to take all the shit? How does it feel, having to come crawling to Ed Foley instead of the other way around?” He came around to face him again, standing shorter than Grant, having to turn his head up to meet his eyes. “And how does it feel knowing your son is in danger? Knowing that in the next few seconds he’ll die!”

  Grant grasped his lapels and jerked him close. “You stinking murdering bastard!”

  Clancy placed the barrel of his gun to Grant’s throat. “Let go, or your adam’s apple will be coming out the back of your neck.”

  Grant could not help desperate tears of fear. “Please, Ed. If you want me to beg, then I will. Just don’t hurt James. He had no part in any of this. He’s never done anything to you!”

  Ed’s eyes blazed with revenge. “That’s true, but he is his father’s son. I believe the Bible says something about th
e sons suffering for the sins of the father, something like that. Well, that is what’s going to happen here today. Your son is going to pay for my son’s death, and you are going to watch him swing from that noose, feet kicking as he slowly strangles to death. You are going to know what it feels like to watch your son suffer, as I watched mine suffer after the mining accident, before he finally was released from his pain in death.”

  “Ed, you said nobody would get hurt,” Clancy spoke up. “Let’s take the money and get out of here.”

  Ed looked at the man scathingly. “This was my plan, and I have the right to carry it out however I wish. I will never get over losing my own son, and I won’t rest until someone pays for that!” He turned and marched over to where James stood on the crate. “First, we’ll have a little farewell speech. Apparently Grant came alone, like I asked, since we haven’t heard any gunshots from Richard behind us. We have time for a proper eulogy. When it’s over, we’ll bury the two bodies side by side, like father and son should be buried. It will be days, maybe weeks, before anything is discovered—maybe never. By then, men, we will be well on our way to Montana and wealth.”

  “You crazy sonofabitch!” Grant shouted. “You’ll never get away with this! I kept my promise, so let us go!”