“I’m just doin’ my job.”
“And does doin’ your job mean you use the telegraph key?” Jeb asked.
“Use the key for what, Jeb?” Ben asked.
“I’m thinkin’ he mighta warned Pearl River Junction that we’re comin’,” Jeb answered.
That made Vic Delay sit forward.
“How would he know we were headin’ there?”
“I don’t know,” Jeb said. “Maybe the sheriff here can tell us.”
“There’s nothin’ to tell,” Coffey said, sweating. “Tol’ you. I’m just doin’ my job, keepin’ an eye on you.”
“We’ll see, Sheriff,” Jeb said. “We’ll see. Lou, you and a couple of others make the lawman comfortable in one of these chairs. I want to eat before I talk to him some more.”
“Sure, Jeb,” Tanner said. “Samms, find some rope. We’re gonna make the lawman real comfortable.”
Sheriff Coffey watched the entire gang finish eating while tied to a chair that was shoved into a corner. It gave him time to wonder what they would do to him if he didn’t tell them what they wanted to know. It also gave him time to regret he’d ever taken this damn job.
“What are we gonna do with him?” Delay asked Jeb while they ate. He kept his voice down so the sheriff couldn’t hear him.
“We’ll send one of the men over to the telegraph office, find out if he’s sent or gotten any telegrams recently,” Jeb explained. “I’m thinkin’ maybe somebody in Pearl River Junction heard about me gettin’ out of Yuma and figured I might be comin’ to see ’em.”
“Her, you mean,” Delay said. “You’re talkin’ about your gal.”
“Maybe.”
“If she tol’ them you’re comin’, then they’ll be ready for us,” Delay said. “And if this fella sent them a message tellin’ them how many we are—”
“You’re puttin’ the horse before the cart, Vic,” Jeb said. “Let’s finish eatin’, then find out what he knows and what he told people, before we panic.”
“I ain’t gonna panic, Jeb,” Delay said. “That ain’t what I do. See, this whole thing is your plan. You’re gonna decide how we play it. I only know one thing.”
“What’s that, Vic?”
“This day’s gonna end with me killin’ a lawman.”
Jeb forked a piece of steak into his mouth and said, “I got no problem with that.”
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.