The Last Renegade (23 page)

Kellen arched an eyebrow. “If that’s the case, he was slow
coming to that conclusion. And if he found her lying on her side, why take the other photographs at all?”

“What about Mr. Reasoner?” Raine asked. “He was there when Emily’s body was found.”

“Yes, he was.”

“What do you suppose his role was in this?”

“That’s not clear.”

Raine shook the photograph in her hand. “Do you think one of them murdered Emily?”

“I don’t know.”

His admission made her hesitate. “But the common belief is that Mr. Weyman is responsible.”

“Among some people. For now.”

“You don’t believe it.”

“Neither do you. He never boarded at any station between Rawlins and Cheyenne. I don’t think he ever left the territory. His body just hasn’t been found. Sugar thinks he’s holed up somewhere north of here, but there’s no trail to follow. I suspect the deputy is going to change his mind about Mr. Weyman very soon.”

“What does that mean?”

He spoke without inflection, his expression revealing nothing. “It means I’m going to need an alibi.”

Raine could only stare at him.

Kellen pointed to the photograph she still held. “Turn it over and look at the rocks at Emily’s feet.”

She turned it over slowly, reluctantly, and studied the photograph.

The object lay in a shallow crevice between two rocks. It was round, about the size of her thumbnail, and visible only because it was brighter than its rocky cradle. The rocks absorbed the dappling sunlight. This object reflected it.

“What is it?” she asked, looking up. “A charm? A locket? I don’t recognize it as something of Emily’s.”

Kellen did not answer her. Instead, he got to his feet and went to the wardrobe. He opened one of the drawers, searched briefly, and palmed the item he wanted. When he returned to Raine’s side, he took the photograph and dropped what he was
carrying in his fist into her open hand. He did not sit. He hitched a hip on the table, folded his arms in front of him, and waited.

“It’s a cuff link.”

“It is.”

She turned it over so the link lay against her fingers and the beautifully engraved disks lay flat in her hand. The elaborate flourishes of the initials wound like ivy around the circumference of each gold plate face. The letters should have disappeared in the ornate scrolling, but to Raine they were so immediately clear that she ran a fingertip across the surface to convince herself they were not raised.

KMC

“What’s your middle name?” The absurdity of the question did not strike her until after she’d asked it. Color rushed into her cheeks, and she quickly shook her head to communicate that she did not expect him to answer.

“Maxwell.”

“Oh.”

His faint smile was wry. “I’d assumed you would have something else to say.”

“I’m sure I will. Eventually.”

“Yes, well, it’s an unexpected turn.” He held out his hand for the cuff link and pocketed it when she gave it to him. “I am confident you realize that I used to have two. One of the pair is missing. That’s what you saw in the photograph. Do you want to ask me if I lost it when I murdered Emily?”

“No. I don’t want to ask you anything like that. I want to know if it’s visible in the photographs that Dan Sugar has.”

“I have to assume it is. I didn’t notice it, but I told you that I didn’t ask to study those photographs. I thought showing too much interest would raise suspicion.”

“If it’s in the other photographs, what do you think Deputy Sugar will do?”

“He won’t be able to identify what it is from the pictures alone, but if he’s curious about it, and in his place I would be, then he should visit the site where her body was found. He’s
been there once, the morning after Petit and Reasoner came across Emily. He took a couple of men with him, and they used that location as a starting point to look for Mr. Weyman. None of them saw the cuff link or I would have already been questioned about it. It could have fallen between the rocks when Petit and Reasoner were tramping around. They did wrap Emily in a blanket and lift her onto the saddle. The horse also could have trampled it.”

“Are you going to try to get it back before it’s found?”

“I wish I could, but the chance that I’d cross paths with Sugar is almost a certainty. He’s already watching me.”

“He is?” She glanced toward the window.
“Now?”

“Probably not at this moment, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious. He has the Davis boys helping him.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I saw him talking to Jem at the Ransom house, and Jem couldn’t stop himself from looking my way. He and his brothers have been looking my way ever since Emily was laid to rest. They don’t know how to be subtle.”

Raine agreed. The Davis boys did not have a cunning bone in their bodies. “Do you think Emily took the cuff link from your room?”

“I’ve thought of that. It’s very tempting to make the case that she took it. That explanation presents fewer problems for me because it follows that I wasn’t necessarily with her at the time she was murdered, but I can’t accuse her of theft to save myself.”

“I’ve never had a complaint from a guest about Emily. She was a good girl.”

“Which is why I don’t believe she stole it.”

Raine was relieved that he thought so, and it showed in a softening of her expression. “And yet someone did take it, and apparently left it by Emily’s body to throw suspicion on you. Is there one person you suspect more than another?”

“No. Not yet, but I doubt it was Mr. Weyman. His disappearance is not coincidental. He’s being offered up as a scapegoat as well.”

“Why would the murderer point fingers in two different directions?”

“Perhaps he didn’t. Weyman is only a suspect in Emily’s murder until his body is found. I believe that will happen soon enough. My cuff link at the site makes me a suspect in both murders.”

She nodded. “What do you need me to do?”

“I haven’t worked that out yet.”

“I think you have,” she said. “I think you don’t want to ask me.”

His narrow smile confirmed it. “Something like that.”

“I do have an idea.”

“I’m listening.”

Nodding, Raine began to lay it out before him.

Uriah Burdick tossed a log on the fire, gave it a nudge with an iron poker, and once he was satisfied that it hadn’t smothered the flames, he turned around to face Eli and Clay. He saw he already had their attention, but out of habit, he tapped the tip of the poker against the fireplace’s stone apron. His boys took their height from him, which was why he preferred to address them when they were sitting. They would show him deference regardless, but he believed in looking over them when he could.

“You’ll have to talk to him,” he said without preamble. He rolled his broad shoulders, easing the tension across his back. “Tell him he doesn’t want to see me. Right now, I’d shoot him dead as soon as look at him. You can tell him I said that, too.”

Uriah’s flat blue stare shifted from one son to the other. They shared a glance between them and then nodded. There was never any question in his mind that they would do exactly what he told them, but they always did it a little better when there was a sense of competition between them. That was what the silent exchange had been about. It had been that way since they were boys, and while Uriah fostered the contest they made of everything, he had come to understand that what he did, he did out of necessity. Looking at his boys, there was no denying they were his sons, but in their ability to think and act decisively on their own they were as different from him as salt was from sugar.

Uriah put the poker away and picked up his tumbler of whiskey from the mantel. His hands were large, and when he closed his fingers around the glass, it disappeared. “Remind him of what he was hired to do. If he steps sideways again, I’m finished with him. More to the point, he’s finished.”

Eli plowed his fingers through his dark hair. “He might say we got it wrong, Pa. He might say he didn’t do it.”

“Are you likely to believe that?”

“No, sir.”

“Good. Because if he says something like that, he’s a goddamn liar.” Uriah squeezed his glass as though he meant to crush it. His knuckles whitened. It felt right, and he held the glass that way for a long moment. It was only after he relaxed his grip that he took a drink. “Still, if he swears he’s innocent, tell him he needs to show us who’s guilty.”

Clay drummed his fingers against the flat, wooden arm of his chair. “Don’t forget, there’s suspicion that it was the man she ran off with that did it. The whiskey salesman. Weymouth. Weymar.”

“Weyman,” said Eli.

“Weyman,” Clay repeated. “He’s going to tell us it was Weyman.”

“And what will you say to him in return?” asked Uriah.

Clay stopped drumming. “I reckon I’ll tell him that suspicion isn’t proof.”

Uriah nodded. “Good.” He looked at Eli. “Does that sound about right to you?”

“Yes, sir.”

Uriah finished his drink and returned the tumbler to the mantel. “You boys need to be mindful of how you approach him. He likes it in close so keep a respectful distance.” They nodded in unison. “Flank him. Best if you stay public but not so anyone can overhear your conversation. Don’t let him see you’re afraid.”

Eli and Clay exchanged glances again. Eli spoke for both of them. “We’re not afraid.”

It was what Uriah expected to hear. “You damn well should be. You know what he is. I didn’t hire him because he’s not
dangerous. I hired him because he is. Now he might be smart enough not to bite the hand that feeds him, but it’s hard to know in the face of the poor judgment he showed with Emily Ransom. Don’t trust him. Don’t let yourself be at ease with him. Remind him he’s paid up through Nat Church.” He paused. “You did put the money in his account, didn’t you?” When they nodded, he went on. “So we’re square. He can take it and go, or he can go on. He knows the list. Emily Ransom sure as hell wasn’t on it.”

Clay shook his head. “She sure as hell wasn’t. Even a sassy little bit of up-to-no-good like her deserved better.”

“I suppose you think that you’re the better she deserved,” said Eli. “Emily would cross the street before she would bring you a drink. She was always trying to stay out of your way.”

“That’s on account of all the lies Ellen Wilson told her. And I never saw the Widder Berry give you a smile that wouldn’t freeze the balls off a man who had a pair.”

Uriah thrust out a hand when Eli started to get to his feet. “Enough. That discussion’s for outside. Always has been.” He waited for Eli to settle. “Good. Now as to the other matter we’ve talked about. I’ve decided I would like to speak to the reporter. From what I’m seeing already, I’m not sure this winter’s going to be any better than last, and Washington needs to pay attention to its territories. We’re providing beef to a nation. I think there’s something to be gained by having our story told in the
New York World
.”

“You want us to invite him here?” asked Eli.

“Better if he sees the spread for himself, don’t you think?”

Eli nodded. “That’s what he wants.”

“Well, then, I’m feeling downright generous. Let’s give the man what he wants. What’s his name again?”

“Kellen Coltrane,” Clay said before Eli could. “I have to tell you, Pa, he’s not much for cards or drinking.”

“Not every man is,” Uriah said. “And I count that as a real shame. Still, I won’t take advantage of a weakness. Neither should you.” His eyes swiveled to Eli, and he fixed his stare. “Or you.”

Eli did not try to defend himself. He simply nodded. “How
about we bring him back after we take care of the other matter?”

Uriah shook his head. “Invite him, but tell him to come the following morning. Riding out alone will be a test of his mettle, and he can spend the day. You can escort him around some of the spread. He can’t see it all in an afternoon, but he’ll get an idea of the length and breadth of it. Do you know if he’s talked to any of the other ranchers?”

“Didn’t seem like he had,” said Eli. “I’m not sure he’s planning to. He was interested in our ranch.”

“My ranch,” Uriah said. Although he said it without rancor, the distinction was important to him. It kept the competing interests of his children at the forefront of their minds. It also kept his youngest son at the forefront of his. “Either one of you seen Isaac lately?”

It was Clay who answered. “He’s still working with Sol, putting up fence in the Cross Creek parcel.”

“That isn’t what I asked. Have you seen him?”

“No, sir.”

“You, Eli?”

“No. It’s been two weeks since I laid eyes on him.”

“One of you will have to go out there and make sure he knows not to show himself when the reporter’s here. That’s a story we don’t need.”

“I’ll go,” said Clay. “First thing in the morning.”

“I’ll go tonight,” said Eli.

Uriah took in both of his boys at once and smiled.

Emily Ransom had been cold in the ground for ten days when Dan Sugar strode into the Pennyroyal Hotel with one hand hovering near his gun. The Davis brothers accompanied him, Jem on the right, Jessop and Jake just behind his left shoulder.

All activity in the dining room ceased, but as the diners had all left, it was only Renee and Cecilia who were shocked into stillness. As this was an unnatural state for them, only a few seconds passed before the cousins dropped the plates and utensils they were holding and threw up their hands.

The crash and clatter brought Raine from the kitchen. She took in the tableau in a single glance, the frightened expressions of the girls, the fierce ones of the men, and forced down the wild fluttering of her own heart. It was happening. She wasn’t ready, she thought. She had merely wanted to believe she would be, and now she knew the truth.

“Are you arresting them, Deputy?” she asked with credible calm.

Sugar let his hand fall to his side. “Of course not. Put your arms down, girls.”

Renee and Cecilia obeyed, but slowly. They looked uneasily at each other, then over their shoulders at Raine.

“Go wait with Mrs. Sterling in the kitchen,” she told them. “You can clean up this mess later.” They didn’t wait to hear if there were counterinstructions from the deputy. The girls hurried past Raine and disappeared into the kitchen, closing the door solidly behind them. Raine’s accusing stare encompassed the deputy and the Davis brothers. “I hope you’re ashamed for scaring them the way you have. If you’re not, you should be. I imagine it’s by accident rather than design that you are here after my diners are gone.”