“Who was that?” Nick asked.
Doug looked back at the door and shrugged. “Just a neighbor.”
“I heard some of what he said. He said he was looking for a man and he wanted to search this house.”
“Someone must have seen you that day and gotten the wrong impression. Like I said before, you were out of sorts.”
Although he hadn’t meant to, Nick put a vicious snarl in his voice when he asked, “What was his name?”
“Marshal Bagley. Do you know him?”
After a moment, Nick recalled hearing that name once or twice from Red. “He’s the law in a few little towns around here.”
“That’s right. It’s just some bad luck he’s around here right now. Don’t worry, though. He’s just making the rounds.”
“Who were the friends he mentioned?”
Doug chuckled and asked, “Did you have a glass against the wall?” When he saw Nick wasn’t laughing, he added, “Marshal Bagley says he’s on good terms with the Virginia City Vigilance Committee. Most folks around here think that’s just hot air to frighten the troublemakers.”
“God dammit,” Nick growled. “I need a gun.”
“What? There’s no need for that.”
Responding to Doug’s raised voice, Sue stuck her head in the door. “Is the marshal still here? What is Nick doing out of bed?”
“I need a gun,” Nick said to both of them. “Any gun you’ve got.”
“Nick thinks Marshal Bagley intends on doing him some harm,” Doug called over his shoulder to his wife.
“Does the marshal have a reason to do you some harm?” Sue asked.
The way she was staring him down, Nick knew better than to try and lie. “Maybe.”
“You see?” Doug said quickly. “There’s no…what? Maybe? What do you mean, maybe?”
“If that marshal of yours keeps in touch with the Committee,” Nick explained, “there may be a chance that he’s out to put me down.”
“Why?”
Before Nick could answer, Sue interjected, “That damn Committee doesn’t need a reason. They never have. That’s why we left Virginia City, remember?”
“I know plenty about the Committee,” Doug said with some of the anger that Nick had heard in his voice a little while ago. “But I also know they go after some deserving targets as well. Which one are you, Nick? Be honest with me and I’ll stick by you as much as I can.”
Nick found the shotgun propped against a wall and snatched it up before Doug could do a thing about it. Checking to make sure it was loaded, he said, “Neither of you knows a damn thing about me. You don’t know the half of what the Committee is capable of, either.”
“Then tell us what we need to know,” Doug insisted.
“For one, I need to make sure that marshal don’t send word to Virginia City. Once Red hears about someone giving shelter to a wounded man, the Committee will come here looking for me. You don’t want that. Did you tell anyone my name?”
Doug recalled mentioning Nick’s name to his neighbor and cursed under his breath. “Damn it, let me go talk to the marshal. I can tell him you ran away.”
Nick looked at Doug and saw genuine concern in a face that he barely even knew. Although Sue was busy with the girls in another room, she had looked just as concerned when she looked through the doorway at Nick. It should have been easy for him to pick up his things and leave.
It should have been easy for Nick to take the Hemphills’ money as well as a fresh horse and start riding in any direction other than toward Virginia City. A few short months ago, Nick would have done all of those things. Hell, a few days ago he had been entertaining that very notion.
“How many deputies does that marshal have?” Nick asked.
“Don’t worry about that,” Doug said.
Sue came to her husband’s side. When she spoke, there was no uncertainty in her voice. “Three. There may be more, but I’ve only seen three men riding with Marshal Bagley.”
“Were any of them with him today?”
Finally Doug nodded. “Just one.”
Nick tucked the shotgun under his arm and walked into the kitchen. When he came back out, he was buttoning one of Doug’s jackets over him and patting the gun into place. “Hope you don’t mind if I borrow this,” he said.
Doug forced a smile onto his face and said, “Only if you bring it back.”
“You might not see me again,” Nick replied without returning even a fraction of Doug’s smile. “I’ll try to stop by again, but I can’t make any promises.”
“Where are you going?” Sue asked.
By this time, Nick had made it to the front door and was peeking outside. “I’m going to make sure that marshal doesn’t report back to Red in Virginia City. After that, I’ve got some business of my own to finish.”
Doug reached out to grab hold of Nick’s arm. “You’re in no condition to ride anywhere. You shouldn’t even think about it.”
Nick got the man to release his grip with nothing more than a warning glare. Once Doug stepped back, Nick said, “You’ve done enough already. Whatever happens after this, it’s best that you don’t know about it. Whatever you think you know…forget it. And forget me, too, while you’re at it. It’ll be better all around that way.”
Doug was standing halfway between his wife and the door. His arm was still extended from grabbing Nick’s elbow and he extended it once more with his hand open. Nick paused for a second, and then reached out with one of his bandaged hands. Closing his fingers tentatively, Doug slowly shook Nick’s hand as if he was trying not to break an expensive piece of china.
“If you need to go,” Doug said earnestly, “just go. Take whatever you need. Take the shotgun, but don’t use it on our account. I’ll do my best to make certain news doesn’t spread from here about you.”
“I appreciate the thought,” Nick said, “but I’d be asking way too much.”
Doug smirked, but it was less humorous and more conspiratorial. “Not as much as you think. I work at the telegraph office a mile from here and we get plenty of news before Virginia City does. We also get plenty of notices posted there by the law. Knowing that Committee, they’ll be posting one there, themselves, before long. It’ll be burnt as soon as they leave.”
Knowing it wouldn’t do any good to refuse the man’s help, Nick nodded and shook Doug’s hand in earnest. Although he felt the familiar burning pain shoot through his hand, his grip was stronger than it had been even earlier that same day. “I won’t ever forget you folks,” he said.
“Take care of yourself,” Doug told him.
Sue rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Nick. “Just run,” she whispered into his ear. “That’s all you need to do. Everything else will sort itself out whether you fight for it or not.”
Nick didn’t say anything. He just savored the warmth of her hug and stopped asking himself why the hell these people would do so much for an outlaw they’d scraped off the ground a matter of days ago.
When he stepped outside and helped himself to one of the Hemphills’ horses, Nick vowed that those folks wouldn’t suffer because of their generosity.
Nick didn’t have much doubt as to where he should go next. The only thing that concerned him was getting there in time.
TWENTY-ONE
The deputy’s fist slammed into Mather’s face, sending a spray of blood into the air. Marshal Bagley stood nearby with his thumbs hooked in his belt, watching as if he was getting bored of the sight.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Mather grunted.
Marshal Bagley shook his head impatiently. “You know damn well. The man we’re after was wounded. Wounded real bad. We know he came this way, so that only leaves three choices. If he was dead,” Bagley said while ticking off one finger, “we would’a found a body by now.”