Pearl River Junction

46

Later that night Shaye entered the sheriff’s office and found Cotton seated at his desk.

“You haven’t gone home yet?”

“Nope.”

“Anybody else around?”

“James is out doin’ rounds,” Cotton said.

Shaye came over and sat across from Cotton.

“Any more word from that sheriff in Highbinder?”

“No,” Cotton said, “and I’m worried. That’s a small town. Fact is, it can’t hardly even be called a town anymore. If he gets too close to those men and they notice him…”

“I get your meaning,” Shaye said. “If we don’t hear from him again, we’ll have to assume the worst.”

“Yep,” the other man said. “That he’s dead and that Collier and his gang know that we know they’re coming.”

“That’d be the worst, all right.”

“What do we do then?” Cotton asked. “I mean, if they come riding in here as bold as you please…if they come in peaceful and none of them is wanted for anything, there ain’t much we can do.”

“Not until they break the law anyway,” Shaye said. “Fact is, Jeb Collier’ll probably want to finish his business with Belinda before he tries for the bank.”

“What if she doesn’t want to see him?” Cotton asked.

“Then we’ll probably have a problem,” Shaye said, “but I think she’ll talk to him.”

“What makes you say that?”

“It’ll be the only way she can get rid of him,” Shaye answered. “She’ll have to convince him that he’s not the father.”

“And what if she has no better luck convincing him he’s not the father than she did convincing you that you’re the grandfather?”

Shaye stared at the lawman.

“Riley, I’m not even sure I understand that question, but why don’t we just worry about it when the time comes?”

“Right, right.”

“I’ve got a question for you, though.”

“Okay.”

“How long a ride is it from here to Highbinder?”

“Two days.”

“So they’ll have to camp overnight on the trail.”

“Right,” Cotton said. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m wondering what would happen if we met them on the trail?” Shaye said.

“And did what?” the lawman asked, carefully.

“Somehow persuaded them not to come to Pearl River Junction.”

“And how would we do that without gunplay?”

“We probably couldn’t,” Shaye admitted.

“Dan, I don’t think I could do that,” Cotton said. “I mean…I’m the sheriff and—”

“That’s okay,” Shaye said, cutting him off. “I was just trying it out on you. I know you can’t do anything that’s against the law.”

“I’m sure there are some lawmen who stretch the law, Dan,” Cotton went on. “Maybe it’s a failing in me that I can’t—”

“Riley,” Shaye said, “it’s okay. I understand.”

They sat quietly for a few moments and then Cotton said, “You and your sons wouldn’t ride out there and face them, would you?”

“No,” Shaye said, “not without knowing exactly how many there are. Sheriff Coffey said eight, but we don’t know if they’ll be riding all together or not. I mean, if I was Collier I wouldn’t want to ride in here with seven other men and attract attention.”

“So you think they’ll come in separately?”

“In three or four groups, probably,” Shaye said. “We’ll have to get a description of him from Belinda, just so we’ll have a chance to recognize him when he rides in.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“I think we’re pretty safe in assuming they won’t arrive until the day after tomorrow,” Shaye said. “I just wish your sheriff friend would send us one more telegram.”

“Maybe he will,” Cotton said, “after they leave town.”

“Yeah,” Shaye said, “if he can. Given the size of that town, I also assume he has no deputies?”

“No,” Cotton said, “and he hasn’t had the job all that long either.”

Shaye stared for a moment, not at anything in particular.

“You think he’s in trouble, don’t you?”

“Oh yes,” Shaye said, “I do. And we’re too far away to be of any help. All we can do is wait.”

The blood from the wounds in Sheriff Coffey’s face had run down his chest and soaked into the ropes that were binding him.

“That’s enough,” Jeb told Lou Tanner. Aside from Delay, Jeb had respect for Lou Tanner above all the other men and Tanner had proven him right by bringing the lawman in. Because of that he had allowed Tanner to don his leather gloves and “question” Sheriff Coffey.

When Jeb called him off, Tanner stepped back and stripped off his bloody leather gloves.

“We’ve got what we need,” Jeb said. “One sheriff with one full-time and one part-time deputy in Pearl River Junction. That’s all we need to know.”

“So we don’t need him anymore?” Vic Delay asked.

“No.”

“I mean,” Delay said, “we don’t need him alive any—”

“No, Vic,” Jeb said, “we don’t need him. Do what you want.”

All of the men except for Lou Tanner, who knew Delay well, were startled when the man simply drew his gun and fired a shot into the sheriff’s chest, putting the bloody man out of his misery. The sheriff’s chair hopped in the air and came down on its back with a thud.

Delay ejected the spent cartridge and inserted a live one before holstering his gun.

“Lou, take the men to the bar and get them a drink on me,” Jeb said.

“Sure.” Tanner kept himself from calling Jeb “boss.” He didn’t think it would sit right with Delay. The last thing he wanted to do was get Vic Delay mad at him. He knew better than anyone how unpredictable Delay was.

Once the six men were standing at the bar, effectively blocking the bartender’s view, Jeb put his arm around Delay and said, “Vic, I don’t think we need to leave the bartender or the telegraph operator behind when we leave either.”

“I can take care of that right now.”

“Do the bartender tonight and the telegraph operator tomorrow before we leave. For tonight we can put both bodies behind the bar and then close this place up when we go to the hotel.”

“Okay,” Delay said, “but maybe they’ll be gone by mornin’.”

“Not these people,” Jeb said. “They got no place else to go.”

“We should probably disable the key as well as the operator.”

“No problem,” Delay said. “And while we’re checking out in the mornin’ I could also do the desk clerk.”

“Ah, why not?” Jeb said. “Then we at least get our rooms for free, right?”

Both men left and walked toward the bar, Delay drawing his gun again.