Silver Creek - G.L. Snodgrass Page 0,42

told Luke there wasn’t much more they could do.

“He’ll just have to suffer through the headaches,” McAdams had told him. “But he should be all right.”

Now, the man looked like death warmed over. A pasty white face and trembling fingers. Was it the headwound? Or was the man worried?

Mark Felton looked up through bleary eyes. “Was that my brother I heard earlier?”

Luke nodded, “And your sister.”

Felton shuddered, “I take it they ain’t real pleased?”

“No, can’t say they are.”

There was a long pause in the conversation as Felton obviously tried to wrap his mind around his situation. “Reed? He still alive?”

“Last I heard he was awake for a few minutes then went back down under.”

The prisoner swallowed hard as the realization began to settle in. His life would depend upon the sheriff surviving. Ten years in prison wasn’t near as bad as hanging.

“Cooper?” he asked as he once again dropped his head into his hands.

“Dead,” Luke told him. “That belt gun was a surprise.”

Felton snorted, “Not enough, obviously.” Suddenly his brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you kill me? You had me. I was going to kill you. Ain’t a jury in the state would have said you was wrong.”

Luke stared at the man for a long moment. “I ain’t got all my questions answered yet.”

Felton looked up and frowned, “I didn’t kill Tom Johnson.”

“Then who did?” Luke asked as he studied the man closely.

“Don’t know,” he said with a heavy sigh.

“Why’d your brother buy that land? It don’t make sense.”

Again, Felton shrugged, “Don’t know. My brother never tells me why he does things. Not when it comes to the ranch. He just expects me to shut up and do what he tells me.”

A frustration rose inside of Luke. The man wasn’t lying, he’d bet his horse that Felton was telling the truth. At least as he saw it. He continued to study him for a long moment, then pushed off the door jamb and said, “How do you like your steak? I’ll pass it along to Helen.”

“Medium is fine,” he said with a furrowed brow, obviously trying to understand why the new sheriff was being nice to him.

Luke had just returned to his desk when the door opened and Jack Strumph and Tuthill the banker stepped inside. The large blacksmith smiled. “Saw the Feltons stopped by.”

Tuthill looked like a typical nervous banker, “What did they want? You ain’t letting him out, are you?”

Luke snorted as he shook his head. “Yes, that was them. They were keen to get their brother sprung. Told them they’d have to wait for the judge.”

The two men frowned, obviously wondering what he was going to do. He wished he could tell them. But it pretty much looked like he was stuck here until the judge showed up.

“We could hold a trial ourselves,” Tuthill said. “The city council could appoint a judge. The man tried to kill our sheriff. The sooner we put this behind us the better. We could add the charge for killing Tom Johnson.”

Why was the man in such a rush? Surely it wasn’t hurting the banking business. “I ain’t sure he’s the one who killed Tom. Besides, would you want to be the judge who sends a Felton to jail?”

The man’s face drained of color as he realized the long term ramifications.

“You’d have to be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life,” Luke added.

Strumph nodded, “What about you? Won’t you have to be on the lookout? Not just now. But long term.”

“I never planned on sticking around, remember?” The thought made Luke freeze inside. What about Becky? She had her heart set on getting her uncle’s ranch back. She would want to stay here. What did that mean? Would he be having run-ins with the Feltons for the rest of his life? And what about his family back in Oregon?

The sudden realization made his stomach clench. Life had changed in ways he hadn’t anticipated. Now there was someone else’s concerns to take into account.

But then another thought jumped to the front of his mind. He and Becky hadn’t really talked of the future. He had just assumed. But maybe he was being foolish. Heaven knew she could do better.

“We’ll leave you alone,” Strumph said as he pulled at the banker's arm. “Is there anything you need?”

Luke scoffed. “A dozen deputies.”

Both men blanched for a second. “I wouldn’t be holding my breath.”

Luke nodded, “That’s how I figured it.” A cold shiver ran down his spine. There were a dozen ways they could