“Let’s get you into bed.”
She took Corianna’s hand and pulled her out of the chair then walked her into the guest room downstairs. She pulled down the covers then helped her undress down to her shift and settled her into bed. Noticing some blood stains on her dress, she said, “I’ll wash your dress.” She pulled the blankets over her. “You rest now.”
“Thank you, Tresia.” Corianna smiled at her, despite everything. “You never looked down on me because of what I do.”
Like almost everyone else in town, she’d known Corianna for a very long time, but she also knew her circumstances and why she’d chosen to become a soiled dove. There weren’t many jobs for women to support themselves and after her father disowned her and threw her out of his house, she had to do something. She’d tried to find decent jobs, but she was too young, or too inexperienced. In desperation, she turned to the only job she could get.
“You’ve always been kind to me.”
Tresia patted her hand. “Call me if you need me.”
She gathered Corianna’s soiled clothes and closed the door. She stopped short in the parlor. Devlin was in danger, out to get a killer. If something happened to him…she didn’t finish thethought. Instead, she forced herself to put one foot in front of the other. She had these stained clothes to wash. Avery would be awake shortly. It wouldn’t do for her to see them. She headed into the kitchen to heat some wash water.
“Thanks for doing this.” Devlin shook hands with Wyatt MacLean.
“Sure thing. I didn’t know Josie but that doesn’t matter. I don’t like the idea of some madman running loose around here.”
“That goes for us, too,” he gestured toward Merrill as he mounted up. “We’ll meet you over at Montaña del Trueno.”
Devlin spurred Challenger and rode down the long drive, Merrill right beside him, and headed over to Crooked River, eventually coming to the gate that separated the farm from the main road. Merrill rode up to it and unhooked the rope that held it closed then opened the gate.
The fine hair on the back of Devlin’s neck stood up as he passed through the gate. “Something’s not right.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s too quiet.”
Merrill paused and looked around.
Devlin pulled the brim of his hat lower to block the sun and scanned the wide-open space. From here, he couldn’t see the house or the barn, but he should have been able to hear something. Instead, he heard nothing—not even birds. “Be careful. Keep your eyes and ears open.”
As he and Merrill rode up the meandering dirt drive, he kept looking around, his ears attuned to the absence of sound.
As they drew closer to the small structure, his gaze swept over everything in the barnyard. There were horses in thepaddock. They seemed skittish, as if they felt his unease. A sense of foreboding settled in his gut. He always trusted his gut. Call it intuition. Call it self-preservation. Call it whatever, but that feeling—and listening to his gut—had saved his life more than once.
Devlin slowly rested his hand on the handle of his pistol. “We’re being watched.”
“I feel it, too. Like eyes are boring into me.” Merrill swept his gaze over the house.
Before he could say anything else, a muffled scream followed by a loud thump startled them both. The front door of Alfonso’s home flew open amid a hail of bullets.
They both jumped from their horses and crouched down behind the water trough. Their horses took off.
Devlin crept around to the side of the horse trough, where he could get a better look. Ned Delany was standing in the doorway.
“It’s Delany,” he said after he crawled back and hunched next to Merrill. Bullets continued to hit the side of the trough, splashing water up. He kept his head low.
It surprised him that the outlaw was such a bad shot, seeming to just continue firing without taking aim, without careful consideration, wasting his ammunition, although if the goal was to keep them pinned down behind the water trough, he was doing a good job.
He glanced at his deputy. “He’ll need to reload at some point. It’ll be our best chance. Be ready.”
Merrill gave a quick nod and pulled back the hammer of his pistol. “Ready as I’ll every be.”
Devlin removed his hat and moved it above the trough. More bullets slammed into the wood just above his head. There was a click of an empty chamber, once…twice…
“Now!” Devlin stood at the same instant as Merrill, all four pistols trained on the man in the doorway, who was tryingdesperately to reload his own guns. Several bullets dropped to the ground in his haste.
“Drop the guns, Delany.”
