One Night Standoff - By Delores Fossen Page 0,19
to be under the same roof with people devoted to upholding the law.
Clayton pulled to a stop in the circular drive in front of the main house. Lenora was so caught up in looking at the grounds, pastures and sheer size of the place that it took her several seconds to notice the man and woman seated in the white rockers on the porch, which stretched all the way across the front of the house. The woman was in her late fifties or early sixties, with a sturdy build and graying auburn hair. The man was younger, mid-thirties, and he wore a white Stetson, starched white shirt and jeans.
“What the hell?” Clayton mumbled. Judging from his frown, these were not people he wanted to see.
“I told him it wasn’t a good time,” the woman said, getting to her feet the moment Clayton and Lenora stepped from the truck. She was frowning until her gaze landed on Lenora—specifically on her stomach—and the frown shifted to a puzzling glance at Clayton.
“Lenora, this is Stella Doyle, a friend of the family.”
Clayton’s introduction had some frost to it, but Lenora didn’t think it was aimed at Stella, but rather at the man. When he stood from the rocker, Lenora saw the badge pinned to his chest. Not a marshal—a Texas Ranger.
“Ranger Griffin Morris,” the man introduced himself. He extended his hand, but Clayton didn’t shake it. “I understand you had some trouble over in Sadler’s Falls. Is the sheriff handling that?”
“A lot of us are handling that,” Clayton grumbled. “At least we were before I had to stop to talk to you.”
“He wanted to come in,” Stella explained, her mouth tight, “but I told him it wasn’t a good time, that you two had just got shot at.” Her gaze softened. “Are you all right?”
“Fine,” Clayton snarled, and Lenora settled for a nod.
“He’s got a headache,” Lenora said to no one in particular and she wadded up the wet tissues that she’d held to the back of his neck.
“Even more reason this isn’t a good time,” Stella mumbled. Obviously, she wasn’t any happier about the Ranger’s presence than Clayton, so that probably meant he wasn’t here about the shooting.
“Where are Kirby and the others?” Clayton asked Stella. He went up the steps and onto the porch, out of the direct sunlight.
Stella hitched her thumb toward the door. “Kirby’s in his room, recovering from the radiation treatment he got today. The nurse is with him. Your brothers are all out working on finding those men who shot at you.” She looked at Lenora then. “Kirby has cancer and is bad off. Might not make it, but Ranger Morris here didn’t seem to understand that this isn’t a good time for a visit.”
Oh, Lenora figured he understood all right, but obviously he had some official reason for being here. A critical reason. Because if he hadn’t, Stella would have probably already managed to send him on his way.
“I’ll handle this,” Clayton told Stella. “Why don’t you go ahead and take Lenora inside while I talk to the Ranger.”
Stella aimed a huff at Ranger Morris and motioned for Lenora to follow her. “I’ll be inside in a minute,” Lenora explained to the woman. First, she wanted to make sure this visit had nothing to do with everything else going on, and if it did, she was staying to hear what Morris had to say.
The Ranger volleyed glances between Clayton and her as if he was checking with Clayton to make sure it was all right for her to be there.
“You’re here about Jonah Webb,” Clayton said to the Ranger. So, not about the shooting, but Clayton didn’t seem to be shutting her out of the conversation.
Lenora remembered hearing that the body of a man had been found several months earlier. Jonah Webb. He’d been head of the children’s home where Clayton was raised. It’d been a nightmare of a place, from all accounts, and Webb had been responsible for most of the bad stuff that’d gone on there.
“I remember reading that Webb’s killer was caught,” she said to the Ranger.
Morris nodded. “His wife, Sarah, confessed to the crime, but we have a lot of evidence to indicate that she didn’t act alone. She’s not a large woman, and someone would have almost certainly had to help her move the body from the second floor of the building and then bury it.”
Oh, mercy. Did the Rangers think Clayton had done that? “Did Sarah Webb name an accomplice?”
He shook