Wagon Train Proposal by Renee Ryan

Author:Renee Ryan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-04-02T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

By the time Tristan left the jailhouse that afternoon, the sun had already slipped below the horizon. The dull light of dusk cast the town in a murky gloom. Usually he enjoyed these final moments of the day, when a soft hush seemed to fall over the land. But now, as the world poised just on the brink of surrendering to night, something felt...off.

Perhaps this lingering sense of unease was due to the conversation he’d had with James Stillwell and Nathan Reed, followed by another one with Ben and Grayson Hewitt. They were all eager to lure Grant and Amos Tucker out of hiding and had designed a concrete plan. Of course, any number of things could go wrong.

Any number of things could go right.

A shadow elongated in front of Tristan, passed over his feet, then melted down a back alleyway. He tracked its path but couldn’t seem to locate the original source.

Was he being followed?

He scanned the surrounding area. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he continued on his way. He was alone on the street. Or was he?

Every third step he stabbed a glance over his shoulder, then to his right, then to his left. As he turned onto the next block, he couldn’t shake the notion that he was being watched.

By the Tucker brothers? Possibly. Tristan and the others had already set their plan in motion. They’d each taken turns wandering through town today. In the guise of friendly conversation, they’d let it slip out that the stolen money was locked away in an old beat-up safe at the jailhouse.

As the days wore on, Tristan and Stillwell would make it appear as though they were leaving the money unattended for long periods of time. The idea was to lure Grant and Amos into a false sense of security. What the twins wouldn’t know was that someone would always be watching the jailhouse from a spot inside one of the two buildings across the street.

When the Tucker brothers eventually made their move, Tristan and the other men would be ready. He’d already hung wanted posters and had warned the business owners of the ensuing threat. But the twins weren’t stupid. Tristan doubted they would come out in the open unless absolutely necessary. He needed to draw them out.

Mind on catching the thieves as quickly as possible, Tristan stepped onto the front stoop of his home. He froze at the sweet sound wafting over him. His children’s voices were pitched in song.

For a moment, he couldn’t seem to move his feet, couldn’t reach out and open the door. Memories of a different time, a different life, assaulted him. Music had been a part of Siobhan, as conspicuous as her red hair and blue, blue eyes. She was always humming some tune or another.

Trapped between past and present, Tristan stared straight ahead while the beautiful voices drifted over him. The longer he listened, the more he noticed the childish laughter mingling inside the song.

It was the embodiment of pure joy.

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