Paid in Blood by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2018-06-26T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 28

As they rode away from the Slash-Double R headquarters, Buckhorn was still having trouble believing he had gone along with this arrangement. The only thing that balanced it somewhat in his mind was the belief that Milt Riley must be wrestling inwardly with the same thoughts. Nevertheless, the agreement had been reached and now it was in motion.

Riding at Buckhorn’s side as they put the ranch buildings behind them and angled to the north and west, was Joey Riley. She was the one setting the course—the course that allegedly would take them to her uncle Dan.

That was the deal that had been struck. Buckhorn had refused to wait at the ranch like a sitting duck and have Riley brought to him. Milt had refused to simply tell Buckhorn where he could find Dan and then leave his brother the sitting duck for Buckhorn to go after unexpected and unannounced.

Plus, the latter, from Buckhorn’s perspective, could have meant sending him on a wild goose chase that would have provided the chance to warn Dan so he could go on the defensive or perhaps even take up the offense. The compromise was someone accompanying Buckhorn, leading the way and also serving as an intermediary to make sure no traps were sprung by either side.

Selecting Joey as said intermediary was not arrived at without a good deal of contention. Buckhorn saw her as a risk who might turn on him the first chance she got. Milt and Larraine were understandably not comfortable at the thought of their daughter riding out with a notorious gunman.

But Milt himself was not an option; he needed to stay with the ranch and his diminished crew. Larraine was out of the question. Neither Slim Bob nor any of the other remaining able-bodied men would hold enough sway over Dan to ensure he heard Buckhorn out before possibly reacting rashly at the first sight of him—plus those men also needed to stay at the ranch, especially if it was deemed necessary to haul their injured pards into town to the doctor.

So that left Joey, who knew how and where to reach her uncle, was a competent horsewoman, and was willing to fill the role. A little too willing, the way Buckhorn saw it. But, above practically anything else, he wanted to keep what he’d undertaken in motion and he wanted the face-to-face with Dan Riley. So he’d capitulated, said Joey was okay with him. After that, the others grudgingly gave in, too.

Before they’d ridden out, however, Milt had leaned in close at one point and said to Buckhorn, in a low and very intense voice, “You may be out of my league as far as a fighting man and gunslinger and so on. But if you do anything to cause my little girl harm . . . I’ll come after you, no matter how long or how far it takes, and see to it you pay hard.”

* * *

The storm that was moving in was coming fast and they were riding straight toward the heart of it.

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