general store. Manuel and Jose could be anywhere."
"Get Carmen and Maria over to the sheriff's office. I don't think they'll bother Daniel, but get him anyway. Tell the sheriff I'll be over as soon as I find the boys. Do you have any idea where they might be?"
Hands shaking, Evie took off her apron. "The livery, most likely. Tyler, you're terrifying me. Can you tell me what this is about?"
"If I knew, I'd tell you. Just do what I say, as quickly as you can. I'll tell you what I know after I find the boys."
He was gone as quickly as he had come. Frightened, Evie picked up a fire iron from the fireplace and hiding it in her skirts, hurried down the alley. If anyone else meant to jump out at her, she intended to take a piece of their shins first.
She saw Tyler slipping into the livery, so she hurried toward the newspaper office. The printing presses were creating a racket that made it nearly impossible to hear, but the printer was apparently used to the cacophony. He gave her a questioning look but nodded at her request. Evie ran out the door and on down the street to the general store.
She took a deep breath of relief when she found Carmen admiring a red ribbon and dawdling over the counter with Philly and Delphia. The twins gave Evie big smiles, but she merely nodded, took Maria into her own arms, and hastened Carmen out the door.
Evie tried not to panic. At least, she tried not to let the children know she was panicking. They could see Daniel making his awkward way toward the sheriff's office at the other end of the street, and they hurried to catch up with him. He gave Evie a searching look, but she had no answers.
"Go on without me," he ordered. "You can go faster than I can."
Evie gave him a stricken look. They had always done everything together. Daniel was her partner in crime. She couldn't leave him behind. But the stoic look on his face warned that his pride would be damaged more if she insisted on hovering over him. Daniel was growing up.
With one last desperate look, she hurried the girls toward the end of town.
Tyler wasn't there. The sheriff looked up in surprise when they entered, so he didn't know what this was about either. Evie wished she had her gloves and hat on instead of a fire iron and a child in her hands. She always felt better when she was dressed properly. Handing Maria back to Carmen, she looked blankly at the fire iron, then glanced to the sheriff who seemed to be waiting expectantly.
"Tyler's looking for the boys. I think they're in danger. I've got to go find them." She hadn't expected to say that, but as the words emerged, Evie knew that was what she had to do.
She turned in a swirl of skirts and started for the door, but Daniel blocked her way. He stood in the doorway leaning on his crutch, and she couldn't get by without knocking him over.
"I have to find Manuel and Jose." She waited for him to move.
Daniel looked pointedly at the fire iron. "Not if Tyler told you to come here, too, you're not. Sit down and wait for him to explain."
"He's not here!" Evie cried. "I have to find them. I don't know what's going on, but I can find them. I'll be fine. Just let me by."
The sheriff interfered. "Now Mrs. Peyton, I'm sure Tyler will be here in a minute. You just sit down and relax and everything will be just dandy."
A shot echoed in the street outside.
Daniel swung and nearly toppled as Evie shoved past him. Carmen bit back a scream and clutched Maria. Cursing, the sheriff physically removed Evie from his doorway and stepped out to the boardwalk.
Standing in the center of the street were two of the gang that had escaped earlier. And in their hands were Manuel, Jose, and two smoking guns. Tyler was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter 29
Murderous rage pumped through Tyler's veins as he gazed down from the hotel roof to the scene below. He'd grabbed his rifle on the way up, and his hands clenched it with years of familiarity. He knew what the weapon felt like in his hands, how it sounded when it went off, the destruction it would wreak when it did. He knew it all too well. The years telescoped to nothing, and