The Price of Payback by S.W. Andersen

Author:S.W. Andersen [Andersen, S.W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: S.W. Andersen
Published: 2016-03-28T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Ketchum- Sarah

The next morning, we fed the livestock and headed straight to town. Before we opened the saloon, we gathered at the Sheriff's office to see if there was any new information available. Jessie, Carter and Jimmy were at one end, while Jade, Nick, Jackie, Jo and I stood at the other.

I was happy to see the color back in Jade's face, even if she did look tired. The bruise had set in with deep blue and red marks along her left cheek and eye. It was swollen shut pretty good too.

I wish I'd stopped him sooner.

The thought had no sooner popped into my mind before Jade's knowing gaze pinned me up. She smiled softly and mouthed the words, "Stop it."

Having been caught in the act, I averted my eyes, but returned the smile. The girl was uncanny. Guess she knew me as well as Jo, if not better. She was a lot like Jessie in her ability to know exactly what people were thinking. I liked to believe I was complicated, but those two read me like an open book. My only comfort was they could do the same to anyone.

Jade also caught Jo’s concerned stare. She leaned over and whispered, "I'm fine. Quit worryin’, Ma."

Jo stifled her laugh. The air was heavy and it wasn't the time, but it was nice to have Jade in good spirits.

Jessie stepped to the center with papers in hand. She fingered through them silently while we all waited with baited breath. The room was filled with an uncomfortable silence. Everyone was on edge from being in the dark. Would there be more trouble on the way or not?

I suspected there would.

The Marshal finally looked up, making eye contact with me and then Jade. The tenacity that had made the woman such a great hunter blazed in her steely grays. "So, Brady Chase," she began, "as he's known around these parts. Also known as Big Ben Jones down ‘round Texas and Oklahoma. He runs a small gang of hired hands. They'll work for anyone that'll pay and the last few years it seems they've found someone who pays pretty well and pretty often." She dropped a wanted poster from Oklahoma on the table.

Carter looked over the sheet of paper. "That's definitely him. What's he doin’ here?"

"Don't know." She shrugged. "From what Sarah and Jade said, he was lookin’ for someone. So, unless he wakes up, we may never know who that ‘someone’ is."

"Even if he does wake up, he'll probably never tell us," I said. I hated not knowing, especially when there could be so much on the line.

Jessie agreed. "Point is, he was hired to get someone and bring them to someone else. I don't know who, but now that O’Shea's gone, the new man of power in these parts is Robert Brandt. He jumped right in there buyin’ up O’Shea's businesses. He doesn't seem to be into rapin’ and pillagin’, but I'm sure he has someone else that does that for him.

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