Frontier Outlaws: A Coogan Mystery by Michael Cardwell

Author:Michael Cardwell [Cardwell, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Danny stood beside Maggie Whitefeather’s bed and looked down at the young woman. She was sleeping on her back, and her chest rose and fell with each breath. She had her mother’s looks without the mileage of hard luck and disappointment. She was small, thin, and had dark hair cut at the shoulders. The face was unblemished, naïve, yet fierce in a way, and at another time, Danny could imagine her outfitted in a beaded buckskin dress and riding a pony bareback.

He glanced at the monitors and watched the green images dance in response to her heartbeat. His eyes shifted to the side she favored, and he knew the wound he'd given her was under the blankets and hospital gown. She gave a quiet moan, licked her lips, and turned her head to one side before falling into a deep sleep.

She’d shot at him, tried to kill Ray and Sotomayor, but he couldn’t bring himself to hate her. According to Winnie, she’d done it for love, and Danny knew the list of stupid things people do for love was endless. So, he couldn’t hate her.

He had sympathy for her. She’d destroyed her life for Elliott Salamander and for a love that most likely wasn’t even returned. After this, he’d try to help her as much as possible. Try and get some leniency at sentencing or at least have her serve her time close to the Rez so Winnie could visit more often. After it was all over, he thought, but that time hadn’t come yet. It wasn’t even close.

“Here ya go,” asked Bringloe. He handed Danny a waxed paper cup from the vending machine. “It tastes like shit-filled mud, but it's all I could find.”

“Thanks,” said Danny. He sipped the coffee; it was terrible, but he’d had worse a hundred times.

“This ain’t your fault, Coogan,” said Bringloe, reading Danny’s mind.

“I know,” replied Danny. He looked at the other man and said, “It don’t make me feel better about it, though.”

Winne came into the room and walked to her daughter’s bedside. She peeked at the monitors and adjusted one of the lead wires tangled between the girl’s fingers. She caressed the hair out of Maggie’s face, then turned to face Danny.

“You’ll go gentle?” she asked.

“As gentle as we can,” answered Bringloe. “But we got folks being killed.”

“And Ray might join them,” put in Danny. “We need answers to stop it.”

Winnie stared at Danny with a rough look that melted into resignation as reality sunk in. She turned back to her daughter and gently shook her awake.

“Maggie, wake up,” she said. “The police are here and want to talk to you.”

Maggie opened her eyes, and a flash of panic passed through them as she saw Danny and Bringloe standing at the end of her bed. Confusion replaced panic as she saw the badge on Danny’s chest. “You’re not Indian,” she said through a dry throat.

Winnie handed her a soda and answered, “It’s a long story, but he’s tribal now.”

Maggie drank the soda as Danny said, “Sorry for putting you in here.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.