The sheriff reached for the sack, grunting with the effort. “Jake, these are guns. He must’ve broken into the gunsmith shop. If we don’t stop them, those young hoodlums are going to do something dangerous. They’re liable to hurt someone.”
Livy bit her tongue. It wasn’t the boys, but she couldn’t defend them. Not here. Not now.
“We’ll catch them soon. It won’t be long until one of them slips up. We almost caught this one tonight.”
Sheriff Carter sighed. “I wonder what he got away with.”
“We’ll find out in the morning. If you’ll take these on to the jail, I’ll look around some more. I don’t think they’ll try again tonight, but just in case. Are you all right?”
“I’m not as young as I used to be.” The sheriff took a shaky breath. “That short chase about did me in. We’re going to have to talk seriously about getting more help.”
The sheriff shouldered the sack and trudged off. Jake stood still, his gaze raking the surroundings. How could he not see her? Other than lying in the shadows of the porch, covered in black from head to toe, she hid in plain sight.
She squeezed her eyes shut. Hide me, Lord.
After what seemed like an eternity, he moved off in the direction the thief had gone, taking his time. Livy released the breath she’d been holding.
She waited a good five minutes before she moved. She rolled over, put both hands in the snow, and scrambled to her knees. The sound of tearing cloth rent the air, and she groaned. Just one more thing to go wrong tonight. Reaching around, she grabbed her skirt where it was caught on a splintered piece of wood, tugging until she freed the material. She resisted the urge to examine the damage. There’d be time enough for that later.
Gathering her ripped skirt and her wits about her, she made a beeline for home. With Jake roaming the streets looking for the thief, she couldn’t very well search for the boys.
But she would find them, and she’d gain their trust.
One way or another.
* * *
Jake canvassed the town and didn’t see anything out of place. From the looks of things, he’d run the thief to ground, at least for tonight. He headed toward the saloons. If they were good for anything, it was information. A couple of them were closed, but light spilled from the Golden Nugget. He stepped inside.
“Lucky, you ’bout ready to shut down for the night?” He nodded at the bartender, his narrowed gaze studying the half-dozen customers nursing their drinks.
“I reckon so. But not necessarily because you say so.” The saloon keeper rested well-manicured hands on the bar. “The boys are mostly out of money.”
Jake eyed him, not in any mood for Lucky’s shenanigans. It didn’t matter to him why the man closed up shop, as long as he did it. “Heard any commotion tonight?”
Lucky wiped the counter, squinting through the smoke. “Like what?”
“Somebody stole some guns from the gunsmith.”
“I haven’t heard a thing, but I’ll keep my ears open.”
“Thanks.” Jake turned away.
“Take that Skinner with you.” Lucky motioned across the saloon. “He’ll freeze to death if I throw him out in the street.”
Skinner lay passed out at a table. Jake lifted him to his feet. “Come on. Let’s go sleep it off.” Would the man never learn? What was it about some men who couldn’t say no to a bottle of whiskey?
Jake propelled the drunk out the door, the blast of cold air reviving him long enough to keep upright until they reached the jail. Skinner sprawled on a cot and passed out again before Jake could even lock the cell door.
Stepping into the front room again, he stared at the two rifles and the shotgun spread out on Sheriff Carter’s desk. “Those boys sure have upped the ante.”
“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a mess of trouble. It was one thing when we thought we were after a bunch of little fellers looking for a square meal and a warm blanket. But this is a whole ’nuther bucket of coal. I wonder where they planned to get rid of this stuff.”
“Probably Cooperstown or Brownsville. I’ll scout around as soon as it’s daylight and see if I can find anything.”
Sheriff Carter leaned his elbows on his desk and smothered a yawn.
Jake studied his father’s old friend. The sheriff didn’t want anyone to know about his weakness, but Jake saw more than he let on. The man’s shortness of